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Lions beat UMass-Lowell 4-1

LOWELL, Mass. Penn State men’s hockey dominated from beginning to end in a 4-1 win over No. 4 UMass Lowell Saturday night at the Tsongas Center. Casey Bailey notched his first two-goal game since Feb. 21, 2014 and Taylor Holstrom dished three assists as PSU earned its first win over a top five opponent.

The historic win came in commanding fashion as Penn State (6-2-2, 0-0-0 Big Ten) led 3-0 after the first period and opened a four-goal lead en route to the historic win. Prior to Saturday night, Penn State had a pair of wins over then-No. 10 Michigan as the highest ranked opponent to fall. UMass Lowell (7-2-2, 4-0-1 Hockey East) dropped just its second game of the season.

The Nittany Lions would score first for the first time in four games when Bailey notched his seventh of the year on the power play just 6:17 into the contest. Taylor Holstrom, who drew the penalty, won a faceoff in UML’s end and poked it back to Bailey. He waited for traffic in front of the net and fired a rocket to the top-right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Holstrom and Bailey would link up again as the Californian worked behind the net and slid the puck in front of net to an open Bailey who made no mistake for the 2-0 lead. The goal was Bailey’s eighth and Holstrom’s 12th assist.

It looked to be a 2-0 lead Penn State would take into the first intermission, but Eric Scheid tallied his sixth of the year with only 19 seconds remaining to stake a 3-0 margin. Patrick Koudys passed from left point to David Thompson just inside the right circle, whose initial shot ricocheted off James Robinson, UML goalie Jeff Smith and landed at Scheid’s skates.

Just 47 seconds into the second period, Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.) gave Penn State a 4-0 lead on Holstrom’s third assist of the game. Holstrom won the puck at the blue line, played Olczyk into the zone down the right wing and fired through Smith, who was pulled following the goal.

UMass Lowell would get a goal back on the power play through Zack Kamrass with 9:30 remaining, but it wouldn’t be enough to stave off a post-game celebration by the Nittany Lions on the Lowell ice.

Sophomore goaltender Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.), who played in his first game since Feb. 7, 2014 against then-No. 10 Michigan, made 24 saves to earn his first collegiate victory.

Penn State’s defense was strong in front of McAdam, stopping 16 shots before reaching the net led by Thompson who played in his second straight game following a four-game absence after suffering a cut against Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 17.

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