University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Penn State
Pitlick's Hat Trick Leads Gophers to Win
2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (GopherSports.com) - Rem Pitlick tallied his first career hat trick and Eric Schierhorn made a career-high 40 saves as the No. 5 Gopher Hockey program picked up a 6-3 road win at No. 8/9 Penn State on Friday night.
Ten Gophers had points in the victory as Pitlick led the way with his first career four-point game (the freshman added an assist to his hat trick). Sophomore Tyler Sheehy picked up three assists and increased his lead in the Big Ten scoring race to 44 points this year.
Minnesota (19-8-2 overall, 10-3-0-0 Big Ten) jumped out to an early lead with a breakaway goal from Pitlick at 6:20 of the first although Penn State answered back with a power-play goal from Andrew Sturt at 8:50 before Nate Sucese gave the home team a lead at 5:49 of the second stanza.
Pitlick mirrored his first strike to put the Gophers back to even at 8:25 of the second period before Ryan Norman reclaimed the lead at 14:46 with his fourth goal of the year.
It was Penn State's turn to rally in the third period when Kris Myllari scored at 10:25, but the Gophers turned on the offense after that with three unanswered goals to pick up the win.
Justin Kloos notched the eventual game winner with a power-play goal at 14:00 as the senior captain moved into a tie with Neal Broten for 33rd all-time on the Gophers scoring list (142 career points). Taylor Cammarata added his fourth of the year at 17:27 before Pitlick sealed up his first career hat trick with his ninth goal of the season - this time an empty-net tally at 18:34.
In net, Eric Schierhorn's career night culminated with his 19th win of the season - moving the sophomore into a tie for the NCAA lead this season (19-8-2).
Penn State outshot the Gophers 43-31 in the game.
Noteworthy for the Gophers: Minnesota has now scored a power-play goal in eight-straight games (1-for-3 tonight) and 13 of the last 14 games…Vinni Lettieri had a game-high five blocked shots - a career high for the senior…Pitlick's three goals marks the fifth hat trick by a Gopher this season (Kloos, Gates, Lettieri, Bristedt, Pitlick).
The Maroon & Gold close out the weekend with the series finale against Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 18 (Big Ten Network and 1500 ESPN). Tickets for the 2016-17 season are available at MyGopherSports.com or by calling 1-800-U-Gopher.
-Pride on Ice-
