The Penn State Icers (26-3-1) defeated the Duquesne Dukes 8-1on Friday evening at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, extending their home winning streak to eighteen games.
On a night that would see six seniors honored for their commitment to Penn State Hockey over the course of their careers, it seemed only fitting that State College area native and current senior Kurt Collins gave Penn State an early 1-0 just 1:49 into the first period. Fellow senior Paul Daley would add to the lead at 5:55 and make it 2-0 Icers, and just under a minute later a Bryce Johnson wrister beat Duquesne goalie Dan Szymanski to give Penn State a 3-0 advantage. Duquesne got on the board after Penn State was called for interference, as Julian Rizza beat Penn State goalie Matt Madrazo on the power play at 8:21 to cut the Icers lead to 3-1. The Icers would get their three goal lead back at the 16:00 mark when George Saad beat Szymanski with a slap shot from the point to put Penn State up 4-1.
Just like in the first period, Penn State extended their lead early in the second when Michael Longo put one past Szymanski to make it 5-1 at the 1:25 mark. At 3:32, a slap shot from Dominic Morrone as he entered the zone on an odd-man rush popped out of the glove of Szymanski and into the net, extending the Icers lead to 6-1. The senior scoring would continue, as Chris Cerutti increased the lead to 7-1 at 14:04 and the Icers headed into the locker room with a commanding lead.
In the third period, Cerutti added his second of the game when he put home a rebound from a Dan Petrick slap shot from the point to increase the Icers lead to 8-1 at 12:45.
Along with Collins, Daley, Cerutti and Petrick, Dan Loucks and Nick Seravalli were the other Penn State seniors honored before the start of the game.
Penn State outshot the Dukes 61-14. The Icers did not have a power play the entire game and gave up a goal to Duquesne on the only man advantage they had.
On Wednesday, the Icers were awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the ACHA National Tournament in Cleveland. They received a first round bye and will play their first game on Saturday, March 3 at 5 p.m. against the winner of No. 6 Rutgers and No. 17 West Virginia.
The Icers will play their final game of the season on Friday (Feb. 24) when they face Kent State at 7 p.m.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
