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| CONSOL Energy Center | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 6,252 | |
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Dec. 29, 2014
PITTSBURGH --
A controversial five-minute major penalty midway through the second period paved the way for two Robert Morris power-play goals in Penn State's 4-2 loss to the Colonials Monday night at CONSOL Energy Center in front of 6,252 fans. PSU will face Western Michigan for third place in the Three Rivers Classic on Tuesday at 4:35 p.m.
Scott Conway (Basingstoke, England) and Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) each scored for the Nittany Lions (9-5-2, 3-1-0-0 Big Ten) who dropped their first game to Robert Morris (12-2-3, 9-2-3 Atlantic Hockey) since Dec. 2012. Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.) made 29 stops, 15 of which came during the deciding second period.
Following a scoreless first period that saw Penn State open a 13-9 edge in shots, the pace picked up in the second stanza.
A wide open second period with little in the way of stoppages or penalties took a different turn at the 10:42 mark when Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.) was called for a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a contact to the head penalty. The call came on an innocuous play at center ice with little contact between Jensen and an RMU player.
The penalty was Jensen's first of the season, while the major and misconduct were the first of each infraction called against the redshirt-senior in his college career.
Nevertheless, the Nittany Lions were forced to try and kill off their second five-minute penalty of the season. The first three-plus minutes went well with multiple clears and little in the way of RMU pressure until a 3-on-0 rush led to a failed clearance and a nearly empty net, resulting in a faceoff deep in PSU territory.
The Colonials would maintain possession, eventually finding Brady Ferguson in the slot for his seventh of the year with 5:49 remaining in the period. Only 30 seconds later, John Rey unleashed a shot from the left point through traffic that beat McAdam for a 2-0 lead.
Following the game, head coach Guy Gadowsky was asked about the call by reporters, one of which labeled the referees' decision as "out of nowhere."
"Obviously that's the entire game," Gadowsky said. "It's a 0-0 game, I thought it was a great hockey game, I really did. You had two teams that are playing to score goals. I thought it was very evenly matched, two ranked teams. I'm not saying it was mistake free or anything but I thought it was a really good game. A call out of nowhere, that's certainly how we felt.
I tell you this," Gadowsky continued. "So (our coaching staff) watched it over and over, and we're going to tell Nate Jensen to make that exact play the exact same way every single time."
Despite the setbacks, Penn State continued to fight and earn the upper hand during even strength play. With less than three minutes remaining in the frame, Conway won a faceoff to Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) who found Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta) as he pushed the puck to Conway as he slotted home his fourth goal of the year with 2:26 left.
Penn State's Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario) nearly knotted the score less than 20 seconds into the third period as his screamer from the slot clanged off the right post. RMU would regain its two-goal advantage as Daniel Leavans redirected a Chase Golightly shot from the right point four minutes later.
The Nittany Lions continued to press RMU goaltender Terry Shafer who made a series of saves of shots from David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.), Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Bailey with less than six minutes left in the game to keep a two-goal lead.
Gadowsky pulled McAdam for an extra skater with over two and a half minutes to go. A series of passes found Goodwin in the slot as his shot was blocked, one of 27 by the Colonials on Monday night, eventually landing under the shinguard of Golightly. Bailey scooped the puck on the left side of the net and went top shelf for his Big Ten-leading 11th of the season with 1:49 remaining.
Penn State would again pull McAdam, this time with a minute to go, but the Colonials regained possession quickly and Zac Lynch iced the game with an empty-netter with 48 seconds remaining.
Final shots read 37-33 for the Nittany Lions, who dropped their second straight neutral site contest. RMU went 2-for-6 on the power play, while Penn State was 0-for-2.
Monday night marked the return of Zach Saar (Richland, Mich.) who made his season debut after missing the first 15 games of the year while recovering from off-season surgery. Saar played on the fourth line, registering three shots and a plus-one rating.
GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions fell to 2-3-0 all-time against the Colonials and 2-3-0 all-time at the Three Rivers Classic.
• Casey Bailey has scored a point in 12 of 16 games this season.
• Scott Conway scored his first goal since Oct. 31 against Bentley. Conway was PSU's best center, winning 13 of 22 faceoffs.
• Penn State and Western Michigan will face off for the first time in men's ice hockey.
• The Nittany Lions finished third in the inaugural Three Rivers Classic in 2012 by beating Ohio State.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State takes on Western Michigan in the Three Rivers Classic consolation game on Tuesday at 4:35 p.m. Tickets are available on TicketMaster.com and at the CONSOL Energy Center box office.