UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – RIT junior defenseman
Ben Roger notched two goals, but it was No. 8/9 Penn State winning a 7-3 decision over the visiting Tigers, Sunday.
Tied, 1-1, after the first period, the Nittany Lions scored two unanswered in the second and built a 4-1 lead early in the third. First-year forward
William Moore cut the lead in half, but Penn State outscored the Tigers, 3-1, including two empty net goals in the closing minutes, to earn the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring at 9:02 of the first after Aiden Fink took a feed in the slot and scored on a wrist shot from the left hashes, far post.
- RIT answered at 13:39 after Roger scored on a shot from the point past a screened Nittany Lion goaltender.
- Penn State retook the lead at 7:24 of the second following a Tiger interference penalty. Six seconds after winning the ensuing faceoff, Jackson Smith scored on a shot from the point under RIT sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek's pads.
- Penn State took a 3-1 lead at 15:38 of the second after JJ Wiebusch dropped a pass to Charlie Cerrato outside the left post for a short backhand past Krbecek.
- Penn State took a 4-1 lead at 6:16 of the third after Jarod Crespo scored on a return pass from Ceratto in the slot.
- RIT answered just over a minute later after a shot from the right faceoff circle by first-year forward Zach Wigle rebounded to Moore in the slot for a short finish at 7:19.
- Penn State notched a power play goal with 2:35 remaining in regulation for a 5-2 lead after Crespo took a puck in the slot and scored on a wrist shot over Krbecek's glove.
- The Nittany Lions notched a pair of empty-net goals in the final 1:51, sandwiched around Roger's second of the night with 1:32 on the clock.
GAME NOTES
- RIT opened the home-and-home series versus the Nittany Lions on Saturday with a 1-0 shutout at the GPC.
- Krbecek was credited with 29 saves after tying a career-high with 44 stops to backstop Saturday's victory.
- PSU finished with a 36-32 shot advantage.
- Wigle logged an assist for a point in his third-straight game and won 13-of-24 faceoffs.
- Sophomore defenseman Ryan Williams, senior forward Philippe Jacques, senior forward Adam Jeffery and senior defenseman Xavier Lapointe were each credited with assists.
- Penn State converted two of five power-play attempts, while RIT finished scoreless on four extra-man attempts.
- RIT finished the non-conference portion of the 2025-26 slate with a 4-4-1 record, marking the sixth time in the last seven seasons the Tigers finished with at least a .500 record outside of conference play.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT returns to the GPC to host Robert Morris for an Atlantic Hockey America doubleheader next Friday and Saturday (Jan. 9-10) scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and 5:05 p.m. faceoffs, respectively.