Spring Break
Rhody men's hockey splits contests with Penn State
Brandon Gearing
Issue date: 1/28/09 Section: Sports
01/28/09 - Last Friday, the University of Rhode Island men's hockey team traveled to Pennsylvania State University to take on the Nittany Lions for a weekend doubleheader.
The Rams earned a split by rallying to win game two 3-2 after being defeated in the first, 6-2.
The No. 2 ranked Nittany Lions came out strong in the first contest and capitalized on some lackadaisical play by Rhode Island.
Lions forward Matt Kirstein opened the scoring just over two minutes into play, firing the puck past freshman goaltender Joe Spagnoli.
Nearly three minutes later, Spagnoli was beaten again off the stick of Lions forward Steve Peck to put Penn State up 2-0.
Senior Mike Bragger was able to put URI on the board at the 6:43 mark as he blasted the puck past Lions netminder Teddy Hume.
The teams skated equally for the remainder of the period thanks to some solid defensive play from both.
The Nittany Lions took over in period two as Peck again found the back of the net at 8:38.
Teammate Chris Pronchik added another score nearly eight minutes later to put the Lions up by three goals.
Things began to look grim for the Rams as Peck secured the hat-trick with just under three minutes to play in the period.
With a 5-1 deficit staring him in the face, Rams head coach Joe Augustine pulled Spagnoli from the net in favor of senior Ray Martin.
Martin turned away five shots and Rhody senior Matt Wodecki added a score to make it 5-2 Lions.
An empty-net score would finish the Rams as Penn State walked away with a convincing win over the No. 7 ranked Rams.
Saturday was apparently a new day for Rhody as the team turned it around and put in a solid effort, winning 3-2 in overtime.
"I didn't need to tell them anything," Augustine said in response to the loss. "We've been doing this all year - splitting with teams."
A rejuvenated Spagnoli found himself back in goal for game two and put in a tremendous performance to boot.
The Rams earned a split by rallying to win game two 3-2 after being defeated in the first, 6-2.
The No. 2 ranked Nittany Lions came out strong in the first contest and capitalized on some lackadaisical play by Rhode Island.
Lions forward Matt Kirstein opened the scoring just over two minutes into play, firing the puck past freshman goaltender Joe Spagnoli.
Nearly three minutes later, Spagnoli was beaten again off the stick of Lions forward Steve Peck to put Penn State up 2-0.
Senior Mike Bragger was able to put URI on the board at the 6:43 mark as he blasted the puck past Lions netminder Teddy Hume.
The teams skated equally for the remainder of the period thanks to some solid defensive play from both.
The Nittany Lions took over in period two as Peck again found the back of the net at 8:38.
Teammate Chris Pronchik added another score nearly eight minutes later to put the Lions up by three goals.
Things began to look grim for the Rams as Peck secured the hat-trick with just under three minutes to play in the period.
With a 5-1 deficit staring him in the face, Rams head coach Joe Augustine pulled Spagnoli from the net in favor of senior Ray Martin.
Martin turned away five shots and Rhody senior Matt Wodecki added a score to make it 5-2 Lions.
An empty-net score would finish the Rams as Penn State walked away with a convincing win over the No. 7 ranked Rams.
Saturday was apparently a new day for Rhody as the team turned it around and put in a solid effort, winning 3-2 in overtime.
"I didn't need to tell them anything," Augustine said in response to the loss. "We've been doing this all year - splitting with teams."
A rejuvenated Spagnoli found himself back in goal for game two and put in a tremendous performance to boot.
