Series Preview: Penn State Men’s Hockey vs. RIT
2022 has been a year of success for Penn State with a first round Big Ten Tournament victory over higher-seeded Ohio State near the end of the 2021-22 campaign, and a 15-5 start to its 2022-23 season.
As the Nittany Lions look to close the door on 2022, they have one task left in the way of their seventh ranked opponent of the season: No. 20 RIT.
The Tigers 12-4-0 record has them holding onto a spot in the USCHO poll for the first time since 2016, while the Nittany Lions’, who will be the Tigers first ranked opponent since they split a series against Notre Dame in November of 2021, success has translated into a top-5 ranking for the first time since Nov. 12, 2018.
That newfound success for both teams comes through their depth as both teams yet to have a 10-goal scorer, but rank top-10 nationally in goals per game.
For Guy Gadowsky’s squad, which averages the eighth best scoring mark in the nation with 3.65 goals per game, 18 different players have registered a goal this season while 24 of his Nittany Lions have recorded at least one point.
Kevin Wall sits atop the team in both of those categories with nine goals and 16 points. The New York native is joined by Connor McMenamin with 16 points. Wall and McMenamin, who has five goals, are joined by five others in blue and white with five or more goals and eight teammates with double-digit points.
The senior forwards combined for five points when Penn State traveled to Notre Dame nearly three weeks ago to close out the first semester. Wall, who registered an assist in the game one victory and a goal in the finale loss, is currently on a four-game point streak, which is one short of his career high.
As for the Tigers, 16 players recorded goals and 19 amassed at least one point prior to the holiday hiatus, helping Wayne Wilson’s team to the fifth highest goals per game average nationally at 3.81.
Leading the way for those in black and orange in Carter Wilkie, who has nine goals and 22 points to his credit. The sophomore from Calgary is one of six Tigers with five or more goals this season, one of the others being Gianfranco Cassaro.
Cassaro has eight goals and 22 points, both marks which sit second on the team, and is one-half of the highest scoring defensive pairing in the nation. The former UMass Minuteman and Aidan Hansen-Bukata, who has 18 points, have combined for 40 points from the blue line.
Wilkie, Cassaro and Hansen-Bukata combined for three goals and eight assists the last time the Tigers were on the ice in a 10-4 victory over Canisius in early December. But it was Cody Laskosky leading the way with a hat trick to increase his season total to seven goals.
Though the depth is seen up-and-down the skating groups for both sides, both teams rely heavily on their top options in goal.
Liam Souliere has started 18 of 20 games for the Nittany Lions in his first year as full-time starter. Souliere has allowed 38 goals while making 431 saves, putting him second in the conference with a 2.23 goals against average and third with a .919 save percentage.
The junior from Ontario will be well-rested after allowing four goals in two of his last three games. Both of those performances resulted in losses as the blue and white have now suffered all of their losses in series finales.
In 13 of RIT’s 16 games, Tommy Scarfone has appeared in the crease. In his second season at the collegiate level, the Quebec native has a 2.53 goals against average and .918 save percentage.
With two Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors under his belt, Scarfone’s save percentage ranks second in the conference and his goals against average ranks fourth while he is second in the conference with 28.31 saves per game.
Friday’s puck drop is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. in Rochester before the two teams will take four-hour bus rides to University Park for Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. start.
Justin Ciavolella is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
