UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) scored the game-winning goal on the powerplay with just 22.5 seconds remaining to cap off a third period comeback as No. 5 Penn State defeated Stonehill, 3-2, in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State (6-1-0) opened the scoring for the second-straight game as freshman Nolan Collins (Whitby, Ontario) jumped the play in the neutral zone causing a turnover and junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) picked the far corner from the slot over the glove of Skyhawk net-minder Connor Androlewicz off a feed from classmate Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) for the 1-0 edge at 13:07 of the first period.

Stonehill (1-5-0) struck for a pair of quick ones just 24 ticks apart against the run of play early in the second period to take the 2-1 lead as Joel Lehtinen and Evan Orr scored off broken plays and bouncing pucks at 6:03 and 6:27, respectively.

The Nittany Lions evened the score near the midpoint of the final frame as Wiebusch spun around at the near post and sent a beautiful backdoor feed to freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) streaking down the slot and he didn’t miss for the 2-2 score at the 8:11 mark mark.

Then with time winding down it was McKenna letting one rip from the high slot and Wiebusch down low with the redirect atop the goal crease for the 3-2 lead with just 22.5 seconds remaining in the third period to complete the comeback.

GOALTENDING

Freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) remains unbeaten improving to 3-0-0 on the year following a career-best 30 saves while Androlewicz falls to 1-4-0 this season after stopping 33 shots in the defeat.

NOTES

Penn State held the 36-32 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-5 on the man-advantage and a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The Nittany Lions have now scored at least one man-advantage goal in all seven games this season.

With one goal and one assist, McKenna secures his third multi-point effort of the season.

Wiebusch remains the nation’s goal leader after notching his eighth of the campaign while adding an assist for his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 13th of his career. His nine career powerplay goals are now tied for the 10th most in Penn State history while his four this season are tops in the country.

DiMarsico extends his point streak to three games with his first period goal, and he is now tied for second in the nation with seven goals on the season, one behind Wiebusch.

Both sophomore Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) and junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) see their season-opening six-game point streaks snapped in the victory.

NEXT UP

The two teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to conclude the weekend series with a 6 p.m. puck drop in Hockey Valley.