Another Late Game Heartbreaker for Hockey

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- It was another heartbreaker on Sunday afternoon for Sun Devil Hockey, as Penn State (3-5-0) rallied from an early three-goal deficit to win in overtime, 5-4, at Pegula Ice Arena. 

It was the second-straight overtime loss for the Sun Devils (3-6-1), and third-straight game losing in the final seconds of regulation or overtime.

"We're making mental mistakes an inopportune times right now," said head coach Greg Powers. "I told the guys that we're a hair away from what would have been a six-game winning streak. We're right there. I'm still seeing a lot of encouraging things."

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Four minutes into the first period, sophomore forward Jax Murray intercepted a pass at the blue line to get a clean breakaway and went top shelf to give the Sun Devils an early 1-0 lead. 
• Twenty-four seconds later, freshman forward Benji Ecerkle took a tight angle shot from below the far circle and past Penn State's goalie to increase the lead, 2-0. Senior forward Willie Knierim and Murray earned the assists.  
• Senior forward James Sanchez forced a turnover in ASU's offensive zone, leaving him all alone for a shot to put the Sun Devils ahead, 3-0. It was the Devils' third goal in a minute and nine seconds.  
• Penn State responded with their first goal of the night just over a minute later as Christian Sarlo cut ASU's lead to 3-1. 
• On the powerplay, sophomore defensemen Jack Judson fired a shot on net and Knierim punched in the rebound, giving the Sun Devils another three-goal lead. 
• The Nittany Lions answered with another goal before the end of the first period, as Alex Limoges punched in a rebound for his first of two on the night. 
• DeBrouwer faced 18 shots from PSU's offense holding them to two goals in the first period. 
• Penn State started the second period fast, with Talvitie scoring 11 seconds into the middle frame to cut the deficit to one. 
• Four minutes later, Limoges netted his second of the game with a powerplay tally to tie the game at four.
• For the second-straight game, Penn State scored early in 3-on-3 overtime on an odd-man rush as McMenamin fired a shot over DeBrouwer's stick side shoulder for the 5-4 victory.

GAME NOTES:

• Each of the last three meetings between these two programs have gone to overtime with Penn State winning each of the last two.
• The Sun Devils are now 2-2 when scoring four or more goals in a game. They were 15-2-1 when doing so in 2019-20. 
• It was the first game the Sun Devils have lost this season when scoring first. 
• The Sun Devils finished 1-for-3 on the powerplay while the Nittany Lions went 1-for-2. Penn State led shots on goal 45-40.
• DeBrouwer made 40 saves on 45 shots for the Sun Devils.
• Six of the nine goals were scored in the first period.
• Knierim's goal was his second of the series and the assist gave him three points in the two-game series. 
• Murray's goal was his fifth of the season and the assist pushes him to seven points in the last seven games.  
• The Sun Devils are 0-2-1 when going into overtime this season. The Sun Devils were 3-2-3 in 2019-20, and 4-0-1 in 2018-19. The 2020-21 season is the first of 3-on-3 for 5 minutes. 
• The last time ASU went into overtime for both games in a series was in 2019-20 at Clarkson on January 24th (L, 1-2) and 25th (W, 3-2). 
• ASU's all-time program record against Penn State is now 1-7-0 and 0-2-0 in the weekend series with both games going into overtime.