SATURDAY ROUNDUP: No. 19 Penn State rallies down four to defeat Army West Point, No. 12 Arizona State wins Desert Hockey Classic title, Northeastern ties No. 3 Quinnipiac, No. 4 North Dakota finishes sweep over Alaska

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Aiden Fink scores what proves to be the game-winning goal Saturday night as Penn State downs Army West Point 7-6 (photo: Penn State Athletics).

No. 19 Penn State used five unanswered goals to erase a four-goal deficit and complete the largest comeback in program history, defeating Army West Point 7-6 in nonconference action on a snow-filled Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa.

Ryan Kirwan led the comeback with a career-best four points on two goals and two assists while Aiden Fink finished the comeback with his second goal of the game midway through the third period.

The Nittany Lions opened the scoring with an early man-advantage tally as Fink wheeled up the far side and snuck a shot short side over the shoulder of Army goaltender Gavin Abric and under the crossbar for the 1-0 edge at the 2:04 mark.

The Black Knights evened the score with a power-play goal of their own as Mac Gadowsky fed a wide-open Jake Hewitt between the rings and he deposited the puck past the blocker of Penn State netminder Noah Grannan for the 1-1 score at 9:07 of the first period.

Army then turned a pair of turnovers into goals for the 3-1 lead as Brent Keefer and Andrew Garby scored just 19 seconds apart midway through the opening stanza. Penn State cut the deficit in half heading into the first intermission as Simon Mack sniped one over the glove of Abric from the far dot for the 3-2 score at the 17-minute mark.

The Black Knights pushed the lead to 5-2 early in the second period with goals in quick succession again as Barron Woodring and Joey Baez scored just 14 ticks apart in the first 70 seconds of the frame. Army continued to pressure as Max Itagaki outbattled a Nittany Lions player for a short-handed goal and the 6-2 lead at 5:16 of the middle period.

Penn State got a few back over the final seven minutes of the second period to gain momentum for the final frame as Reese Laubach redirected a shot from Matt DiMarsico at the near post for the 6-3 score at the seven-minute mark before Kirwan intercepted a pass at the offensive blue line and sniped a shot from between the circles for the 6-4 deficit with just under two minutes remaining in the period.

The Nittany Lions raced out of the gates in the third period, scoring twice in under a minute to tie the game at 6-6 as Kirwan lit the lamp at the 1:44 mark before Christian Berger snuck one through traffic from the near point past a screen by Kirwan for the tying score at the 2:41 mark.

A stretch of four-on-four play after matching roughing calls set the stage for the game winner as Laubach wheeled back into the neutral zone, dishing a pass to Fink who bolted up the far side beating three Black Knight defenders to get in alone before beating Abric past the glove for what wound up being the 7-6 final at 10:01 of the third period.

Liam Souliere earned the victory in goal after stopping 19 shots over the final 49:03 of game action after replacing Grannan, who made six saves in the opening 10:57.

Abric finished with 39 saves.

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No. 12 Arizona State 2, Omaha 1 (OT)

Kyle Smolen’s goal 1:43 into overtime gave the host Sun Devils the Desert Hockey Classic championship with a 2-1 win over Omaha at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.

Ryan O’Reilly scored ASU’s first goal 2:10 into the third period after Omaha’s Tanner Ludtke gave the Mavericks the lead at 14:44 of the first period.

TJ Semptimphelter made 26 saves for the Sun Devils, while Simon Latkoczy finished with 33 for Omaha.

In the third-place game, UMass Lowell beat Harvard 7-4 as Jake Stella and Nick Rhéaume each had a goal and two assists and Luke Pavicich made 26 saves between the pipes.

No. 3 Quinnipiac 3, Northeastern 3 (OT)

Dylan Hryckowian’s power-play goal at 11:30 of the third period pulled Northeastern into a 3-3 tie with Quinnipiac Saturday night at Matthews Arena in Boston.

Jack Williams and Vinny Borgesi also scored for the Huskies, who got a 34-save effort from goalie Cameron Whitehead. Hryckowian added two assists for a multi-point game and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine also picked up two assists for Northeastern.

For the Bobcats, Cooper Moore, Charles Alexis Legault and Victor Czerneckianair scored as Vinny Duplessis stopped 40 shots between the pipes.

No. 4 North Dakota 6, Alaska 2

North Dakota finished off the Nanooks 6-2 to get the weekend sweep at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

Riese Gaber went for a goal and two assists and Hunter Johannes scored twice as Hobie Hedquist made 17 saves in goal.

Owen McLaughlin added a goal plus a helper, while Jayden Perron and Cameron Berg potted goals.

Payton Matsui and Brady Risk scored Alaska’s goals, Arvils Bergmanis assisted on both, and goalie Pierce Charleson turned aside 19 shots.

No. 5 Wisconsin 7, Notre Dame 4

Wisconsin won its ninth game in a row, knocking off Notre Dame 7-4 for the weekend sweep at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

The victory helped the Badgers secure their their longest winning streak since 1990 and third straight series sweep against conference opponents.

Mathieu De St. Phalle posted a pair of goals for Wisconsin, while Carson Bantle, William Whitelaw and Simon Tassy each registered a goal and an assist.

David Silye chipped in three assists and Ben Dexheimer and Zach Schulz also scored to back Kyle McClellan and William Gramme’s 41 saves in goal.

For the Irish, Maddox Fleming, Brennan Ali, Landon Slaggert and Carter Slaggert scored and Ryan Bischel finished with a 26-save effort in the blue paint.

No. 6 Denver 6, Niagara 1

The Pioneers earned their weekend sweep as Tristan Broz netted two goals and added two assists to guide DU to a 6-1 win over the Purple Eagles at Denver’s Magness Arena.

Aidan Thompson and Miko Matikka each had a goal with an assist, while Carter King and Jared Wright also scored.

In goal, Matt Davis took the win making 27 saves.

Tyler Wallace scored Niagara’s lone goal on a second-period power play and Mitchell Day kicked out 34 shots in net.

No. 7 Maine 4, Colgate 4 (Maine wins shootout)

Maine battled back from a three-goal deficit to force overtime and eventually come away with a 4-4 tie against Colgate on Saturday night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.

Colgate’s Brett Chorske scored 59 seconds into the contest and took a 3-0 lead by the 11:21 mark on subsequent goals by Ryan McGuire and Daniel Panetta.

Donavan Villeneuve-Houle scored just 35 seconds after the Raiders’ third score to cut the deficit to two entering the first intermission.

The second period played on with the 3-1 score until Thomas Freel scored two goals 19 seconds apart in the final minute of the frame. The Raiders retook the lead early in the third period as Chorske netted his second of the game.

Late in the period, Maine’s Sully Scholle tied the game at 17:37.

Neither team scored in the overtime period, but the Black Bears won the shootout.

Victor Ostman and Albin Boija combined to make 26 saves for Maine, while Carter Gylander stopped 41 for Colgate.

St. Lawrence 1, No. 18 RIT 1 (RIT wins shootout)

RIT goaltender Tommy Scarfone made a career-high 46 saves in the Tigers’ 1-1 tie opposite visiting St. Lawrence Saturday night at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.

Elijah Gonsalves gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead early in the first period, but the Saints scored the equalizer on a goal by Tyler Cristall in the opening minute of the third period.

Following a scoreless overtime period, RIT won the shootout 1-0 on a goal from Tyler Fukakusa.

St. Lawrence goaltender Ben Kraws made 42 saves.

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