The Penn State Icers (27-3-1) defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes 13-1 on Friday evening at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, closing out the end of the Icers era with a perfect 19-0 regular season at home.
Kent State had the first big opportunity of the game when they had a 5-on-3 power play early in the first period, but the Icers penalty kill was able to stave off their attack. After a couple chances of their own, the Icers got on the board at the 13:00 mark when Taylor Holstrom fed a pass across the goal mouth to Bryce Johnson, who beat Kent State goalie Zachary Nowak to make it 1-0. George Saad would give Penn State a 2-0 lead just a few minutes later at 15:36 when he put one past Nowak after receiving a hard pass from Eric Steinour.
The Icers got on the board just 2:28 into the second period when Tommy Olczyk fed a pass to Justin Kirchhevel on the breakaway, who beat Nowak top shelf to extend the lead to 3-0. Moments later, Johnson picked up his second of the game when a Dan Petrick shot from the point went wide and ricocheted off the boards behind Nowak right out to a wide open Johnson, who made it 4-0 Penn State at 4:42. Olczyk notched a goal of his own 29 seconds later to make it 5-0 Icers, prompting a Kent State timeout and goalie change. The scoring would continue however, as Jake Friedman joined the act at 8:06, increasing the Icers lead to 6-0. Seconds after their own power play expired, Kent State would finally get on the board at 13:51 when Andy Hanno beat Penn State goalie P.J. Musico to cut the Icers advantage to 6-1. With less than a minute to play in the period, Mike McDonagh poked home a rebound off a shot from the point at 19:05, giving the Icers a 7-1 lead.
In the third and final period of Icers hockey at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, Olczyk, Paul Daley, Chris Cerutti, Dominic Morrone, Michael Longo and Kirchhevel all scored to give Penn State their 13-1 win. Daley’s goal was the lone power play tally of the night for the Icers.
Penn State outshot the Golden Flashes 71-12. The Icers were perfect on the power play and were able to kill all three power plays that Kent State had. This was the second time the Icers scored 13 goals in a game this season, the last being back in December against Rutgers.
The Icers finish with an all-time record of 466-65-18, with 13 overtime/shootout losses at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion. The win also gives them a perfect home record for the fourth time in their 40 year history, a feat previously accomplished in the 1992-93, 1994-95, and 2003-04 seasons.
Penn State will next play on March 3 at 5 p.m. against the winner of No. 6 Rutgers and No. 17 West Virginia at the ACHA National Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. The Icers are the No. 1 overall seed and received a first round bye.
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