Rhody men's hockey splits contests with Penn State

01/28/09 - Last Friday, the University of Rhode Island men's hockey team traveled to Pennsylvania State University to take on the Nittany Lions for a weekend doubleheader.The Rams earned a split by rallying to win game two 3-2 after being defeated in the first, 6-2.

The No. 2 ranked Nittany Lions came out strong in the first contest and capitalized on some lackadaisical play by Rhode Island.

Lions forward Matt Kirstein opened the scoring just over two minutes into play, firing the puck past freshman goaltender Joe Spagnoli.

Nearly three minutes later, Spagnoli was beaten again off the stick of Lions forward Steve Peck to put Penn State up 2-0.

Senior Mike Bragger was able to put URI on the board at the 6:43 mark as he blasted the puck past Lions netminder Teddy Hume.

The teams skated equally for the remainder of the period thanks to some solid defensive play from both.

The Nittany Lions took over in period two as Peck again found the back of the net at 8:38.

Teammate Chris Pronchik added another score nearly eight minutes later to put the Lions up by three goals.

Things began to look grim for the Rams as Peck secured the hat-trick with just under three minutes to play in the period.

With a 5-1 deficit staring him in the face, Rams head coach Joe Augustine pulled Spagnoli from the net in favor of senior Ray Martin.

Martin turned away five shots and Rhody senior Matt Wodecki added a score to make it 5-2 Lions.

An empty-net score would finish the Rams as Penn State walked away with a convincing win over the No. 7 ranked Rams.

Saturday was apparently a new day for Rhody as the team turned it around and put in a solid effort, winning 3-2 in overtime.

"I didn't need to tell them anything," Augustine said in response to the loss. "We've been doing this all year - splitting with teams."

A rejuvenated Spagnoli found himself back in goal for game two and put in a tremendous performance to boot.

The relentless Lion offense attacked the net with a barrage of shots, but Spagnoli did his part in the win by turning away 50 of them.

Senior Ben Herring opened the game scoring as he slipped the puck past the Lions' Nick Signet.

Penn State forward Jamie Zimmel answered with a score late in the second period to tie the game at one.

Teammate and team scoring leader Luke DeLorenzo broke the tie with a go-ahead goal early in the third period, but Rhody was able to respond.

Freshman Dan Lassick scored a clutch goal late in the period to send the Rams into overtime.

Following American Collegiate Hockey Association rules, the overtime period was played in a 4 on 4 format rather than the usual 5 on 5.

Rhody found a stroke of luck as the Lions' Pronchik was called for a "hitting from behind" penalty late in overtime to give the Rams a 4 on 3 powerplay opportunity.

Sophomore Devin Sheehan scored the game-winner just 36 seconds before the teams would have been forced to go to a shootout, giving Rhode Island the win.

"We haven't won back-to-back games since October," Augustine said. "If we win one night, we figure the next night we don't even have to play hard."

Rhode Island will continue to search for consistency as it takes on No. 9 ranked Robert Morris University on Jan. 30 and 31 at the Boss Ice Arena.