ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Denver Pioneers came in to the 2018 NCAA tournament seeking a hot start to their repeat bid for the national championship. The Penn State Nittany Lions were seeking revenge for their loss in the 2017 NCAA tournament to that very Denver team that went on to win it all.
However, revenge will have to wait, as the Pioneers skated to a 5-1 victory that ended the Lions’ season.
The Pioneers jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first as they outshot, outhit, and outgunned the Nittany Lions. Kohen Olischefski started the scoring just prior to the halfway point of the first and teammate Troy Terry followed it up with a goal of his own on the mirror side of the halfway point.
The second period looked more even, as Penn State came out more aggressive and dished out hits just as much as taking them. Unfortunately, their scoring chances were limited and Denver’s were plentiful, as the latter took a 4-0 lead into the second intermission on goals by Henrik Borgstrom and Jarid Lukosevicius.
The crowd was silent for most of the third period until Liam Folkes lit the lamp with an unassisted goal just under eight minutes into the period. Unfortunately for the Lions, the cheering subsided and Lukosevicius tallied his second goal for the Pioneers.
The Nittany Lions tallied 27 shots on goal, compared to Denver’s 42.
Major Focus: Penn State falls to Denver
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