Penn State hockey’s Gavin McKenna scores first goal at home in win over Stonehill

Freshman Gavin McKenna scored his first goal at Pegula Ice Arena as a member of the Penn State men’s hockey team, and the third-period score helped spark a comeback victory for the home team Friday night.

McKenna scored at 8:11 of the third period and Penn State rallied from behind for a 3-2 victory over Stonehill.

McKenna, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NHL Draft from Wildhorse, Yukon, scored his goal off assists from JJ Wiebusch and Jackson Smith, who was a first-round pick of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets in June.

After the McKenna goal changed the momentum of the game, Penn State controlled the remainder of the third period with the game-winning goal coming from Wiebusch with just 22.5 seconds remaining in the game. He was assisted by McKenna and Mac Gadowsky.

Penn State started the game’s scoring when Matt DiMarsico netted his seventh of the season at 13:07 of the first period, but Stonehill scored both of its goals in the second period — one by Joel Lehtinen and the other by Evan Orr — to take the lead after two periods.

Stonehill hammered and hustled through most of the first two periods while Penn State struggled to find consistency on offense and was sloppy at times in its defensive zone.

The game was the first of a two-game series, and the concluding game Saturday will wind down the nonconference portion of Penn State’s schedule. Big Ten Conference play begins Oct. 30 at Ohio State.