Second straight win over a ranked opponent
BOARDMAN, Ohio - Matt Jacob (Keystone HS- Wellington, Ohio) made 49 saves and stopped all four attempts in an overtime shootout, leading the Youngstown State Men's Hockey Club to a 3-2 win over 20th ranked Kent State Wednesday night at the Ice Zone. The Penguins won the shootout 2-0.
"This is, by far, the biggest win in our team's brief history," said Rocky Russo, the YSU coach. Kent State has appeared in the American College Hockey Association's National Tournament in three of the last six seasons. This is Youngstown State's second season in the ACHA.
Both teams finished tied at 2-2 after three periods and a five-minute overtime, forcing the shootout. After Jacob stopped Kent State's first two shooters, Matt Feda (Padua Franciscan HS- Parma, Ohio) converted on the Penguins second attempt for a 1-0 shootout lead.
Jacob stopped the Flashes third shooter, Ryan Nawrocki, and the Penguins countered with team captain Mike Poljak (Bethel Park HS- Bethel Park, Pa.), who beat goaltender Kyle Nova for a 2-0 lead. T.J. Murphy tried to extent the shootout for Kent State, but Jacob denied him to end the game and improve the Penguins record to 6-4-0.
"Matt won the game for us," Russo said. "He stood on his head."
The Penguins jumped ahead early, as Brad Ceremuga (Hickory HS- Hermitage, Pa.) scored just a minute and 14 seconds into the first period. It was his second goal of the season. Kevin Pawlos (Bishop Canavan- Pittsburgh, Pa.) received credit for the lone assist.
"We need balanced scoring, and Brad stepped up and scored an early goal to set the tone," Russo said.
Later in the period, Andrew Schmidt tied the game on the power play for Kent State with 9:29 remaining.
Jacob stepped up in the second period for YSU, stopping all 18 shots that he faced, as the Penguins successfully killed three power plays.
With 4:12 left in the period, Bob Walla (Boardman HS- Boardman, Ohio) scored his fifth goal of the season on another assist from Pawlos to give YSU a 2-1 lead. "At that point, I told the players to stay disciplined," Russo said.
The Flashes' Jason O'Bannon tied the game at the 6:58 mark of the third period with his 11th goal of the season to force overtime.
The win marks YSU's second straight over an ACHA-ranked opponent. Last Friday, the Penguins defeated 17th ranked IUP, 4-2.
For Russo, who played four years at Kent State before graduating in 2005, it meant defeating his alma mater. Eight players on the current Flashes' roster were Russo's teammates two seasons ago. With the loss, Kent State falls to 9-3-0.
YSU will travel to New York next weekend for a pair of games. They will visit Syracuse to face the Orangemen on Friday, Nov. 10 before heading west to face Rochester University on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Penguins next home game is Sunday, November 19 against Washington and Jefferson College. Face-off is set for 1 p.m. at the Ice Zone.
