UNIVERSITY PARK – Senior Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) registered a third period hat-trick to lift No. 8 Penn State to a 7-3 victory over RIT in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Sunday evening.

Crespo’s hat-trick is the 18th in program history and just the second-ever by a Nittany Lion defenseman joining Cole Hults who registered a hat-trick against Sacred Heart on October 11, 2019. The hat-trick is the third of the season for Penn State and the fourth such game where a Nittany Lion has scored at least three goals this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State (12-6-0) opened the scoring with a goal off the rush as junior Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) slipped the puck to classmate Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) driving the slot and he flicked a wrister past the glove of RIT net-minder Jakub Krbecek for the 1-0 edge at 9:02 of the first period.

The Tigers (11-9-0) evened the score as a shot from the point by Ben Roger deflected off a Nittany Lion body and snuck through sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) for the 1-1 score at the 13:38 mark.

The Nittany Lions regained the lead midway through the middle frame with a powerplay tally as freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) let one rip from the point and it bounced off the ice through traffic and past Krbecek for the 2-1 advantage at the 7:24 mark.

Penn State pushed the lead to a pair with a pretty goal off the rush as sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) fed classmate Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) who cut across the crease and slid the puck into a yawning net as Krbecek pushed from post to post in the opposite direction making the score 3-1 at 15:38 of the middle frame.

The hosts continued the pressure with another goal off the rush as Cerrato dropped the puck back to senior Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) streaking through the slot and he picked the far corner for the 4-1 lead at 6:16 of the third period.

RIT responded this time just 63 ticks later as William Moore slipped in a rebound after Zach Wigle’s initial chance was turned aside for the 4-2 deficit at the 7:19 mark.

Crespo notched his second goal of the period in the waning moments of a powerplay as he sniped a shortside wrister off a feed from graduate student Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) for the 5-2 advantage at the 17:25 mark.

Just 44 ticks later, sophomore Cade Christenson (Edmonton, Alberta) hit the empty net from 195 feet away for the 6-2 margin at the 18:09 mark.

The visitors snuck one in late at the 18:28 mark before Crespo sealed the deal and tipped the hat with an empty-net goal for the 7-3 final at the 19:28 mark.

GOALTENDING

Reidler improves to 7-3-0 on the year after making 25 saves over the opening 56:38 before being relieved by senior Chris McFayden (Mars, Pa.) who stopped 3-of-4 shots he faced over the final 3:32.

Krbecek stopped 29 shots falling to 11-7-0 on the year in the loss.

NOTES

Penn State held the slim 36-32 edge in shots on goal while going 2-for-5 on the man-advantage and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Fink’s first period goal gives him 41 for his career pulling even with Brandon Biro ’20 for 10th on the Penn State all-time goal list and after adding an assist he now sits at 98 career points just two shy of becoming the ninth member of the Nittany Lion 100-point club. The multi-point game is his third of the season and the 27th of his career.

With one goal and a pair of assists, Cerrato collects his seventh multi-point game of the season and the 22nd of his career.

Junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) added a trio of assists for his fifth multi-point effort of the season and the 17th of his career.

Crespo’s three goals and three points are both career-bests as he registered his second multi-point effort of the season and the fifth of his career with his first career multi-goal game.

Crespo’s 11 career goals leap him into a tie with Simon Mack ’25 for seventh on the all-time goal scoring list for Penn State blueliners.

Sophomore Nic Chin-DeGraves (Edmonton, Alberta) collected a career-best two assists to tie his career-high point total, registering his second multi-point effort of the season and the third of his career.

Smith’s four goals from the backend this season are already just one shy of cracking the top-10 all-time for goals in a single season by a defenseman.

Penn State improves to 4-1-1 all-time against RIT and conclude non-conference play for the season with an 8-2-0 record marking the 10th time in the 14-year history of the program the Nittany Lions have recorded at least eight non-conference victories.

NEXT UP

Penn State remains home for the next couple weeks as Big Ten play resumes with a pair of 6 p.m. games next Friday and Saturday against Minnesota. Both games will be broadcast nationally on the B1G Network.