{"id":129991,"date":"2021-10-30T22:11:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T03:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=129991"},"modified":"2021-10-30T22:12:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T03:12:09","slug":"penn-state-outlasts-no-6-north-dakota-6-4-in-nashville-unh-clarkson-knock-off-ranked-opponents-mckay-sets-ncaa-shutout-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2021\/10\/30\/penn-state-outlasts-no-6-north-dakota-6-4-in-nashville-unh-clarkson-knock-off-ranked-opponents-mckay-sets-ncaa-shutout-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State outlasts No. 6 North Dakota, 6-4, in Nashville; UNH, Clarkson knock off ranked opponents; McKay sets NCAA shutout mark"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Connor MacEachern celebrates his first of two goals as Penn State upset No. 6 North Dakota, 6-4, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (Photo: Russell Hons\/North Dakota Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was quite possibly the least neutral “neutral-site” game you could imagine, but that didn’t bother Penn State.<\/p>\n

Despite playing around a sea of green-clad North Dakota fans at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Penn State jumped to an early lead that it never relinquished, earning a hard-fought 6-4 victory over the Fighting Hawks in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game.<\/p>\n

Connor MacEachern scored twice for the Nittany Lions including a back-breaking insurance goal with 4:08 remaining while goaltender Oskar Autio made 28 stops to earn the victory.<\/p>\n

MacEachern’s second tally proved important as the Fighting Hawks pulled their goaltender and closed the gap to one with 2:01 left on a Riese Gaber goal. Ben Copeland’s empty-net goal with four seconds left provided the final tally.<\/p>\n

The game was a wild, back-and-forth offensive affair, particularly over the first 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

Penn State jumped to a 2-0 lead early on goals by Tyler Gratton at 4:02 of the first followed by a Clayton Phillips tally less than nine minutes later.<\/p>\n

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Cleaning up the garbage in front of the net!!#WeAre<\/a> #HockeyValley<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/4wBlEBAxk7<\/a><\/p>\n

— Penn State Men\u2019s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) October 31, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n