Blue White Illustrated

| T wice, Penn State sophomore forwards named Connor skated the puck down the le: side of the o9ensive zone in over- time with an option to pass to an open teammate. Twice, they opted to shoot in- stead, and twice, they skated away with their arms in the air. Penn State swept No. 20 Arizona State earlier this month, winning 3-2 on Dec. 11 with an overtime goal by Connor MacEach- ern, before earning a 5- 4 victory two days later thanks to an OT tally by Connor McMe- namin that was more or less a carbon copy of the previous winner. A:er an 0-5 start, the Nittany Lions moved into the holiday break at 3-5 and were awaiting the announcement of the Big Ten's second-half schedule. Let's get into some takeaways from the series: COMEBACK KIDS Penn State found itself trailing 3-0 before it could even settle into this Sunday a:ernoon matinee. Ari- zona State scored three times in just over a minute on freshman goalie Liam Souliere to take a commanding lead in the series 8nale. Christian Sarlo and Alex Limoges scored for Penn State later in the 8rst pe- riod, while the Sun Devils added another to make the score 4-2. Less than 8ve minutes into the second period, the score was tied, thanks to an- other Limoges goal and a tally from Aarne Talvitie. McMenamin's overtime goal completed the comeback, a tie for the largest in Penn State's history. For coach Guy Gadowsky, the most im- pressive thing about the rally was the composure of Souliere in net. "I give the guys a lot of credit for com- ing back and especially Liam Souliere, who we le: out to dry in the 8rst period multiple times," Gadowsky said. "He showed a lot of mental toughness to come back, and he looked so composed in the third period." LIMO SHIFTS INTO GEAR A:er a slow start to the season, Limoges turned in a productive scoring performance against the Sun Devils. The Nittany Lion captain scored once and added an assist on Friday night, before his two-goal e9ort on Sun- day. The solid showing brought Limoges' goal total to 8ve and his point total to nine – above a point-per-game average and just about on par with his scoring pace from a season ago. Limoges also seems to be forming quite a partnership with Maine transfer Tim Doherty, who earned the primary assist on two of Limoges' three goals in the se- ries. Limoges also earned an assist on a goal Doherty scored Friday. "With these two guys, they're both ex- tremely high IQ players, and yet they're both tough on the puck, so they're similar in that way," Gadowsky said. "I think the way they think the game is di9erent than most players. That was something we hoped would happen." GOALIES GET RIGHT Gadowsky was quick to praise the performance of his goaltenders over the course of the series, and with good reason. Souliere made 36 saves on 40 shots in his bounce-back performance on Sunday, but Oskar Autio was also excellent in net on Friday night. He held a proli8c Arizona State o9ense to two goals, stopping 32 of the 34 shots sent his way by the Sun Devils. With both of those netminders entering the series with save percentages below .900, it was an excellent sign for the Nit- tany Lions as they moved into the holiday break. UP NEXT One of the quirks of the way the Big Ten organized its 2020-21 hockey season is that we didn't actually know as of mid-December who Penn State will play once the holiday break is over. The Nittany Lions will play all six of their conference opponents – as well as Arizona State – twice. They have yet to play Notre Dame or Ohio State. Gadowsky said following the Lions' victory over Arizona State in the series 8- nale that he didn't know when the Big Ten would release the rest of its schedule. ■ A DEAL WITH THE DEVILS PSU heads into the holiday break on a roll after earning a pair of wins vs. Arizona State VARSITY VIEWS SOULIERE Penn State got two goals from fresh- man forward Olivia Wallin, but it wasn't enough to prevent the team's 8rst loss of the season, a 4-2 setback at Syracuse on Dec. 12. Wallin opened the scoring in the 8rst and second periods for the Nittany Lions (4-1-1, 4-1-1 CHA), but Syracuse answered back each time and took its 8rst lead in the third period. Fellow freshman Kiara Zanon assisted Wallin on both of her goals. Senior Natalie Heising and freshman Lyndie Lobdell also picked up assists. Freshman goal- tender Josie Bothun made a season- high 42 saves in the loss. As of mid-December, the Lions were awaiting an announcement from Col- lege Hockey America regarding the next phase of the 2020-21 regular-sea- son schedule, which will resume in the next calendar year. ■ WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY Freshmen shine, but Lions fall to Syracuse

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