No. 8 Penn State finished out its non-conference schedule with a 7-3 win over RIT on Sunday evening, avenging the 1-0 loss from last night. Jarod Crespo became the first Penn State defenseman to record a hat trick, and the top line finally cracked the score sheet after a long slump.
First Period
Aiden Fink put Penn State on the board first. With the Nittany Lions rushing in transition, Fink took Dane Dowiak’s feed in the high slot and wristed home a shot through traffic to give Penn State a 1-0 lead:
RIT answered with six minutes left in the period when Ben Roger deflected home a shot from the point to tie the game at 1. The Tigers started to tilt the ice toward the end of the period, and the game went to the intermission tied at 1. A near-brawl at the end of the period somehow resulted in a penalty kill situation for Penn State, with Carter Schade and Mason Croucher each receiving a game misconduct and Lev Katzin taking an unsportsmanlike penalty.
Second Period
The Nittany Lions were sluggish at the beginning of the second period after starting the frame on the penalty kill. A successful kill helped regain some momentum, and eventually Penn State got a power play chance. Jackson Smith fired home a wrist shot moving east to west near the blue line off the opening faceoff on the power play to give Penn State the lead back:
The top line added to the Lions’ advantage later in the period. A nice pass from Matt DiMarsico to JJ Wiebusch in the offensive zone led to a 2-on-1 with Charlie Cerrato, and Cerrato tucked home a beautiful backhand shot to extend the lead to 3-1:
Penn State took its 3-1 lead to the final period.
Third Period
Jarod Crespo extended the lead to 4-1 when he collected a drop pass from Charlie Cerrato in the low slot and went glove side high on Jakub Krbecek:
RIT found an answer when William Moore put home a rebound chance, and the Tigers drew a power play later in the frame, but Penn State held down the fort. With tonight’s senior night festivities, Guy Gadowsky put his seniors on the ice on the Nittany Lions’ final power play chance of the night. Crespo scored his second goal of the night when he found some space near the faceoff circle off a feed from Nic Chin-DeGraves:
Kevin Reidler was pulled shortly after in favor of grad student Chris McFayden, who joined the roster from the club team earlier this season. McFayden allowed one goal on five shots in the closing minutes. Ben Roger scored his second goal of the night during 4-on-4 play for RIT.
Cade Christenson and Jarod Crespo each added an empty-net goal in the final minutes to finish off a seven-goal night. Crespo became the first Penn State defenseman to record a hat trick with his empty net goal. The Nittany Lions closed out non-conference play with a 7-3 win.
Scoring Summary
First Period
- PSU: Aiden Fink (3)- Dane Dowiak (4), Reese Laubach (7)- 5v5- 9:02
- RIT: Ben Roger (2)- Philippe Jacques (2), Adam Jeffrey (3)- 5v5- 13:39
Second Period
- PSU: Jackson Smith (4)- Matt DiMarsico (10), Charlie Cerrato (17)- PP- 7:24
- PSU: Charlie Cerrato (6)- JJ Wiebusch (9), Matt DiMarsico (11)- 5v5- 15:38
Third Period
- PSU: Jarod Crespo (2)- Charlie Cerrato (18), Matt DiMarsico (12)- 5v5- 6:16
- RIT: William Moore (4)- Zach Wigle (8)- 5v5- 7:19
- PSU: Jarod Crespo (3)- Ben Schoen (4), Nic Chin-DeGraves (3)- PP- 17:25
- PSU: Cade Christenson (1)- Luke Misa (2)- EN- 18:09
- RIT: Ben Roger (3)- Ryan Williams (1), Xavier Lapointe (2)- 4×4- 18:28
- PSU: Jarod Crespo (4)- Aiden Fink (8), Nic Chin-DeGraves (4)- EN- 19:28
Shots By Period
- RIT: 10-7-15-32
- PSU: 10-15-11-36
Takeaways
- Top Line- After struggling prior to the holiday break, the top line was outstanding tonight, capped by an excellent backhand shot by Charlie Cerrato. You need your best players to show up on the scoresheet, and Penn State got that in spades tonight.
- Power Play- Penn State scored twice on the power play tonight against the No. 2 penalty kill in the NCAA. Jackson Smith’s shot through traffic was exactly what the Lions needed to get an important goal in the second period.
- Blue Line Offense- Penn State has struggled to get scoring from its blue line, but the defensemen accounted for five goals tonight after scoring just five goals in the first 17 games combined.
- Goaltending- Kevin Reidler stopped 23 of 25 shots and made several saves on high-danger chances to keep the Tigers at bay. Penn State has two goalies capable of elevating their game- not a bad problem to have as we roll toward March.
- Crespo- Jarod Crespo has played a shutdown defenseman role in his 122 games at Penn State and did not always get the credit he deserved for his solid play. He was rewarded with his first career hat trick tonight.
What’s Next
Penn State will host Minnesota next Friday and Saturday in a critical Big Ten series. Both games are scheduled for 6pm and will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.
