Box Score

The American International College men's ice hockey team (1-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) won in their season opener over the Penn State Nittany Lions (0-1-0, Independent) by a score of 3-2 in overtime. It was the first NCAA DI hockey game in Penn State's history.

The Yellow Jackets struck first, scoring on the power play at 2:43 of the first frame when sophomore right wing Nathan Sliwinski (Castle Rock, CO) pushed a puck past freshman goalkeeper Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, PA) to give AIC an early 1-0 advantage. Senior right wing Adam Pleskach (Beausejour, Man.) and senior defenseman Jeff Ceccacci (Placentia, CA) had the assists on the first goal of the season for AIC.

The Lions tied the game in the middle of the second frame, as freshman left wing Casey Bailey (Anchorage, AK) jammed the puck under the pads of AIC senior goalkeeper Ben Meisner (Halifax, NS) at the 4:37 mark for the first Nittany Lions goal in their Division I era. The assists were to freshman defenseman Joseph Lordo (St. Louis, MO) and junior defenseman Nate Jensen (Shorewood, MN).

However, AIC would regain the lead on a four-on-four. After stampeding into the zone and filtering the puck around, Pleskach had a shot stopped by Skoff, but senior defenseman Chris Markiewicz (Calgary, AB) charged in from the point and shot it over the prone Skoff to give AIC a 2-1 lead at 10:13.

The Lions would draw even again in the third, as junior right wing Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, CA) whipped a wrist shot past Meisner high on the blocker side at the 13:55 mark to tie the game at 2-2. The goal was unassisted.

Penn State would continue to pepper the AIC goal, but Meisner would not yield another, stopping shot after shot through regulation and into the overtime. In the process, Meisner broke the single-game record for saves in the Division I era for AIC, and the record for saves in a game by an Atlantic Hockey goalkeeper.

Then, with just :21 left in the extra frame, sophomore defenseman Jake Williams (Duluth, MN) fired a shot from the point that was tipped by senior left wing Jon Puskar (Grosse Ile, MI) over the glove of Skoff to win the game for the Yellow Jackets.

In goal, Meisner made 61 saves on 63 shots to earn the victory and improve to 1-0-0 on the season, while Skoff made 26 saves on 29 shots in the loss, falling to 0-1-0.

The Yellow Jackets will next play tomorrow against Penn State at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA, home of the American Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.