Penn State bounces back to drop Mercyhurst

The Penn State men’s hockey team was not about to suffer another upset loss Saturday night. Andrew Sturtz and James Robinson made sure of that.

Sturtz had a five-point night and Robinson picked up a hat trick in a 7-5 victory over Mercyhurst at Pegula Ice Arena.

The Lakers stunned the Nittany Lions 7-4 on Friday.

Included in Sturtz’s point total were his four assists, setting a single-game program record, and an empty-net goal for the 46th score of his career, breaking Casey Bailey’s team standard.

“Sturtzy obviously did some great things and taht accolade of breaking Casey Bailey’s record — that’s extremely impressive and extremely well-deserved,” coach Guy Gadowsky said. “It’s great that it comes in such a great game for him.”

Robinson’s hat trick was the fifth in program history and first since Denis Smirnov turned one in nearly a year ago.

The five goals allowed, however, meant the team has allowed 36 goals in seven games. Peyton Jones made 36 saves.

Players of the Game

Sturtz and Robinson each had impressive performances. Sturtz broke Bailey’s record with 12 seconds left in the game, a short-handed score into an empty net. It was his eighth shorthanded score, increasing his own team mark. The five-point night also is a team record.

“I think a big credit to all those goals goes to every player Ive played with over my two-and-a-half years here,” Sturtz said.

Robinson scored twice in the first period, then completed the hat trick just 29 seconds into the second period, redirecting a Cole Hults delivery. Sturtz assisted on all three scores.

“It was obviously super cool to put three in the back of the net,” Robinson said. “However, stuff like that doesn’t happen without your linemates and your teammates.”

Other goals

Also netting goals for the Nittany Lions were Chase Berger, Liam Folkes and Nikita Pavlychev.

The Lakers got goals from Jack Riley, Taylor Best, Joshua Lemmon, Zach Todd and Kane Elliott

Up next

Penn State returns to Big Ten play with a visit to the newest conference member in hockey — Notre Dame. The games against a participant in last year’s Frozen Four are set for Friday and Saturday.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 12:19 AM with the headline "Penn State bounces back to drop Mercyhurst."