Loven scores for Men's Hockey in 4-1 defeat

St. Paul, Minn. – St. Thomas men's hockey (1-15, 1-9 CCHA) received a goal from Grant Loven in a 4-1 loss to Penn State (9-6, 1-5 B1G) on Wednesday.

The Nittany Lions wasted little time in the opening period, scoring just three minutes into the first. The Tommies would face a total of 13 shots in the first 20 minutes, amassing 11 blocks, with senior goaltender Jacob Berger notching 12 saves. Freshman defenseman Trevor LeDonne led the squad with three first-period blocks.

A continued power play from the first period helped lead to a Loven netter (off assists by Christiano Versich and Lucas McGregor) at the 19:09 mark of the second period. It was the fourth goal of the season for the senior forward and the sixth assist of the year for Versich. The lone power play that the Tommies faced in the second period was stopped, and the team collected nine more blocks and seven more saves.

Penn State would tack on a final goal in the third period to push the lead to 4-1. Berger played all 60 minutes in the net and totaled 29 saves, the second-highest output of the season for him. His NCAA Division I-era career-high of 44 saves came on Tuesday night against the Nittany Lions.

"(Penn State) comes at you in waves and they are really good at finishing their plays," remarked head coach Rico Blasi. "We did a pretty good job for about a period and a half of staying with them."

"It is all part of the process and the learning experience that everyone is going through. We need to focus on getting back to playing simple hockey which starts at practice."

UP NEXT
Following a week off, the Tommies return to the ice against CCHA-foe Bemidji State on Friday, Dec. 3 with a start time of 7:07 p.m.

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Team Stats

Grant Loven

Lucas McGregor

Christiano Versich

Trevor Zins

Players Mentioned

Jacob Berger

Trevor LeDonne

Grant Loven

Lucas McGregor

Christiano Versich

University of St. Thomas Athletics