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Nittany Lions knocked out of tourney after 6-3 Denver loss

Nikita Pavlychev (13) of Penn State University celebrates after scoring a goal against Denver in the NCAA hockey tournament. (Photo Courtesy of Penn State Hockey)

CINCINNATI – This past weekend was full of firsts for the Penn State men’s hockey team.

On Saturday, they competed in their first NCAA tournament game in program history, and many would say they blew the door open. They beat the No. 2-seeded Union Dutchmen, 10-3. The Nittany Lions also tied an NCAA Tournament record for goals in a debut with 10 as well as being the first team since 1990 to score ten goals in a tournament game. Penn State also moved their record to 25-11-2 and 14-0-0 when scoring at least five goals.

Then on Sunday, the Nittany Lions took on the giant that is the Denver Pioneers: The No. 1 overall seed who has won seven national championships while looking for its eighth, and first since 2005. Penn State was looking to advance to their first ever Frozen Four while Denver was looking to get to their 15th and second consecutive.

This was the first ever meeting between these two teams and both were also the top two least penalized teams in the NCAA. This game also pitted the second highest scoring team in the country (PSU) against the top ranked defense (DU) in Division I hockey.

The Nittany Lions and Pioneers started out fast and aggressive in the early going of this one, trying to get a feel for each other. It would be Denver who struck first at 3:17 when Jarid Lukosevicius got into the crease and muscled the puck into the net to put them up 1-0. Coming into this one, Denver was 22-0-1 when scoring first.

Then a little over four minutes later, Adam Plant took an assist from Henrik Borgstrom and eyed the shot into the back of the net to put the Pioneers up 2-0.

Finally, Penn State would answer when Nikita Pavlychev scored his sixth goal on the season at the 15:00 mark while the Nittany Lions were shorthanded. The goal would be reviewed for interference but would stand, and the score was 2-1 at the end of the first period.

Then early on in the second period, Penn State managed to kill off a penalty and Denis Smirnov toe dragged the puck in front of the net and it bounced off of a Denver defender into the goal to tie the game at two.

After that, the Pioneers took over. Troy Terry took an assist from Borgstrom on a 2-on-1 breakaway and found the back of the net to go up 3-2 at 6:30. Nine minutes later, Terry assisted to Lukosevicius who scored his second goal on the night to move the score to 4-2. Terry then struck again for Denver; he managed to force a turnover, get the puck out to Borgstrom who then passed back to Terry for his second goal and fourth point on the night.

Denver’s record leading after two periods was 24-0-1 while Penn State had a lot of third period comebacks this season. Unfortunately, there would be no comeback for the Nittany Lions this time.

After Tariq Hammond nailed one of the Penn State players in the back near the beginning of the period, Penn State could not capitalize on a five minute power play. Denver managed to turn up the defense in the third period until 12:40 when James Gobetz got the Nittany Lions back on the board with a rocket of a shot from just in front of the blue line to make it 5-3.

Penn State chose to go with an empty net with about 3:30 left but it didn’t take long for Troy Terry to take advantage and give himself a hat trick on the night, and his 22nd goal on the year.

That would be it, with the final score being 6-3, Denver.

The Big Ten Champions had a phenomenal season and have come such a long way in five years; all the way from a club squad to a future perennial power in Men’s Division I Hockey. Guy Gadowsky has them going in the right direction and the future is bright for this team.

Here’s to making another run in the tournament and hopefully a Frozen Four birth next year.

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