Big third period key in Icer win

After two tightly contested periods, the Icers erupted for four goals in the third period to take a 5-1 victory against Eastern Michigan in the first day of the ACHA national championships at Ann Arbor, Mich., last night.

"We came through in a big, big way," Icer coach Joe Battista said. "But we don't have a lot of time to regroup."

Next up for fourth-seeded Penn State (25-8) is eighth-seeded Western Michigan, which lost yesterday to No. 1 seed Iowa State, 6-1. The Icers will play the Stallions at 1 p.m. today.

Scott Goleniak, a freshman forward, opened the scoring at 3:14 of the second period for No. 5-seeded Eastern Michigan (24-13-5) when he deflected a shot in midair from Mike Johnson.

Eastern Michigan goalie Biff Griese held the Icers scoreless until 13:22 of the second period. Sophomore forward Joe Bassett tied the game when he scored on a breakaway. Taking a puck cleared by defenseman Don Coyne, Bassett slipped the puck between Griese's pads for his sixth goal of the season.

The Icers had chances to score but they couldn't convert. Though the puck wasn't going in, the team remained unified.

"Nobody lost faith," Battista said. "Everybody stayed together and we made the big plays."

Penn State will be riding the momentum of the win, which came about after some line changes.

Junior forward Jeff Adams, after being reunited with linemates Mike Pietrangelo and Tom Westfall, took a pass from Pietrangelo and beat Griese on the glove side at 4:40 of the third period. It was Adams' 24th goal this year.

Less than two minutes later at 6:08, the Icers extended their lead to 3-1 when Rich Martha scored his 17th of the season. C.J. Patrick passed to Andrew Barnes, who gave Martha the centering feed.

"(Eastern Michigan) had to start taking chances," Battista said. "The more they pushed, the more we took advantage of it."

The Icers scored their fourth unanswered goal when forward Rich Podulka and defenseman Jason Dickey broke in 2-on-1 against Griese. Podulka, who is coming back after breaking his jaw, scored his sixth goal at 8:38 of the period.

At 13:31 of the third period Adams scored his second goal of the game, waiting until Griese went down to go upstairs. The assist came on a diving pokecheck from Westfall.

Notes:

• Penn State's Rob Shaner, a freshman forward, left the game with a broken collarbone and will be out for the rest of the tournament. Shaner came on strong at the end of the year, scoring a hat trick last weekend against Michigan.
  

  "We just haven't been able to make it through nationals without a major injury," Battista said.
  

  Coyne, who left the game in the third period, will return to action after suffering a mild ankle sprain.
  

• The Icers beat the Eagles twice in December at the ice pavilion and lost at Eastern Michigan in early February.