UNIVERSITY PARK – Sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) scored the eventual game-winning goal as No. 5 Penn State defeated Stonehill, 4-2, in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday night to complete the weekend sweep.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a scoreless first period, Penn State (7-1-0) opened the scoring as freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) slipped the puck to his defensive partner Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) and he unleashed an absolute bomb that beat Skyhawk goaltender Connor Androlewicz farside over the glove for the 1-0 edge at 6:23 of the middle frame.

The Nittany Lions pushed the lead to 2-0 midway through the second period as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) picked the shortside on the powerplay off a feed from sophomore Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) at the 10:01 mark.

Stonehill (1-6-0) got one back as a defensive zone turnover ended up in the back of the net as a strange bouncing puck slipped past sophomore net-minder Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) off the stick of Zach Aben for the 2-1 deficit at 12:15 of the second stanza.

Penn State regained the two-goal margin as the B-T-B boys connected for a goal with sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) slipping the puck into a yawning net after junior Matt DiMarsico’s (Wexford, Pa.) initial chance was turned aside for the 3-1 score at 17:21 of the middle frame.

The Skyhawks continued to push, however, and cut the deficit to a single goal against heading into the intermission with a powerplay tally as Pat Murphy was the beneficiary of a crisp pass and a yawning net for the 3-2 score at 18:33 of the second period.

The hosts extended the lead to a pair again midway through the final frame as McKenna generated an odd-man rush and freshman Shea Van Olm (Calgary, Alberta) cleaned up the garbage at the near post for his first collegiate tally after classmate Nolan Collins’ (Whitby, Ontario) initial bid was turned aside for the 4-2 score at the 9:18 mark.

GOALTENDING

Reidler moves to 4-1-0 on the year following a 26-save effort while Androlewicz falls to 1-5-0 this season after stopping 28 shots in the defeat.

NOTES

Penn State held the 32-28 edge in shots on goal with both teams going 1-for-6 on the man-advantage in the game. The Nittany Lions have now scored at least one man-advantage goal in all eight games this season.

With a pair of assists, Smith secures his second multi-point game this season.

Cerrato also collected a pair of assists moving his national lead in points to 17 while securing his sixth multi-point game in the first eight games of the season and the 21st of his career.

Cerrato also went 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) at the dot in the game and 30-for-39 (77 percent) for the series.

With one goal and one assist, McKenna collects his fourth multi-point effort of the season and his second in-a-row as he finishes the weekend with two goals and two assists for four points.

Wiebusch remains the nation’s goal leader after notching his ninth of the campaign while his 15 points are second in the nation behind Cerrato.

DiMarsico extends his point streak to four games following his second period assist.

NEXT UP

Penn State hits the road to begin Big Ten Conference action with a Thursday-Friday matchup in Columbus against the 14th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes next week. Thursday night’s contest will air nationally on the B1G Network.