With just a week until the season officially begins, Penn State hockey took the ice to knock off the rust and eventually knock off Windsor 5-2 in an exhibition game Sunday afternoon.
While the game didn’t count for the record books, it was like so many of Penn State’s games at the Division I level. The Nittany Lion falling behind early and roaring back for a convincing victory.
Windsor opened the scoring 8:40 into the first period, with a shorthanded tally after winning a battle on the boards. The slow developing rush ended as Dylan Denomme shot back against the grain and over the stick side of Penn State goalie Matthew Skoff. Despite falling behind after the opening 20 minutes, Penn State led the shot count 15-8.
The one goal margin extended to two as Kenny Bradford slammed home a score just 6:12 into the second frame. It only took five minutes though for Penn State to respond as Curtis Loik danced through the Windsor defense and flipped a backhand shot up and over the glove side. The goal would prove to be the start of Penn State’s dominance on the day as the Nittany Lions scored yet again thanks to David Goodwin’s work around the net with just over eight seconds to play in the period.
From there the Nittany Lions got another from captain David Glen just 4:14 into the final frame to break the 2-2 tie. Glen added yet another just over nine minutes later to seal the deal. Penn State got one final tally from Tommy Olczyk into an empty net with just 50 seconds remaining in the game.
By the day’s end Penn State truly looked the better team despite the early deficit. The Nittany Lions registered 57 shots on goal led by freshman defenseman Vince Pedrie who picked up two assists and seven shots to his name. Glen came up one shot behind the freshman total but with two assists of his own. Both Skoff and fellow goalie Eamon McAdam looked solid making nine and 12 saves respectively. Neither truly tested during their time in net with Windsor never getting more than seven shots on a goal during any one period. Six different freshman saw significant action for the Nittany Lions on Sunday.
Penn State will now prepare for next Friday’s season opening contest against Canisius before returning home to play Notre Dame the following week at Pegula Ice Arena.
