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College Roundup: McGinley paces Wilkes soccer to win over FDU-Florham

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Hundreds come running to Paint Pittston Pink

The newest Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin made sure the team got the new American Hockey League season off to a positive start.Stefan Noesen, who just signed with the Penguins Friday morning, scored two goals Saturday night to lead a season-opening, 4-3 victory over the host Hershey Bears.Noesen joined the team in time to take part in Friday&#8217;s practice and Saturday morning&#8217;s game-day skate.At the Giant Center, Noesen showed he knows his way to the front of the net. He quickly converted a pass on a strong rush to the net for the team&#8217;s first lead during the first period. Noesen scored off a rebound for the only goal of the second period, putting the Penguins ahead to stay.Noesen, a veteran of 159 career NHL games, helped make his former Canadian juniors coach, Mike Vellucci, a winner in his debut behind the Penguins bench.The Penguins were led by two players who spent all of last season in the NHL.Casey DeSmith, a 28-year-old goalie who won 15 NHL games for the parent Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018-19, stopped 29 of 30 shots in the last two periods. He finished with 36 saves, bouncing back from allowing a goal on the game&#8217;s first shot.The Penguins and Bears did not need long to get their offenses started.Hershey got a goal on the game&#8217;s second shift when Alex Alexeyev scored at 1:02.Alexeyev took a cross-ice pass from Garrett Pilon in the right side of the slot and rattled a shot off the post and in.By the time the first period was over the teams had combined for four goals and 23 shots on goal.Jake Lucchini and Noesen put the Penguins in front.Lucchini, who had six goals in 15 games after joining the team last spring on an amateur tryout contract out of Michigan Tech, delivered the team&#8217;s first goal on a rebound at 6:45.Noesen, a former first-round draft pick who last played in the AHL during the 2016-17 season, was cut late in Dallas Stars training camp where he had been attempting to make the team on a tryout.The 26-year-old right wing from Texas was streaking up the right side when Adam Johnson hit Noesen with a diagonal pass from the left wing for the first of his two assists. Noesen tucked a shot under the crossbar for his first goal.Hershey tied the game before the period ended.Shane Gersich, who was positioned along the goal line on the left side, passed to Christian Djoos, who snapped off a quick shot from the left circle.Noesen broke the tie for good less than three minutes into the second period.Oula Palve put a shot on net coming out of a faceoff and Noesen was there to score on the rebound.The Penguins protected their lead by killing a penalty midway through the second. They killed another early in the third period and Niclas Almari send a pass ahead, finding Anthony Angello as he exited the penalty box.Angello made a move to get around the only Bear in position to slow him down, then beat goalie Vitek Vanecek to make it 4-2.Hershey made things interesting late, scoring in a 6-on-4 situation with the goalie pulled on a power play with 1:19 remaining.The win improved the Penguins to 13-12 in season openers, including 3-2 against Hershey.The Penguins play in Allentown Friday night against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before playing their home opener the next night against Utica.Penguins 4, Hershey 3 Penguins`2`1`1`&#8212;`4 Hershey`2`0`1`&#8212;`3 First Period &#8212; 1, Hershey, Alexeyev 1 (Pilon, Burgdoerfer), 1:02; 2, Penguins, Lucchini 1 (Haggerty, Warsofsky), 6:45; 3, Penguins, Noesen 1 (Johnson, Czuczman), 13:36; 4, Hershey, Djoos 1 (Gersich, Maillet), 15:35. Penalties &#8212; Haggerty, Pens, (tripping), 15:26; Williams, HER, (roughing), 18:29.Second Period &#8212; 5, Noesen 2 (Palve, Johnson) 2:55. Penalty &#8212; Miletic, Pens (holding), 8:43.Third Period &#8212; 6, Angello 1 (Almari) 4:20; 7, Moulson 1 (Pilon, Sgarbossa), 18:41. Penalties &#8212; Bench, Pens, served by Angello (too many men on ice) 2:09; Blandisi, Pens, (boarding), 7:04; Williams, HER, (slashing), 11:32; Lafferty, Pens, (high sticking), 17:15.Shots on Goal &#8212; Penguins 14-8-8&#8212;30. Hershey 9-15-15-39.Power-play opportunities &#8212; Penguins 0 of 2; Hershey 1 of 5.Goalies &#8212; Penguins, DeSmith 1-0-0 (39 shots-37 saves). Vitek Vanecek, Hershey (30 shots-26 saves).A &#8212; 7,520.Referees &#8212; Mike Dietrich, Mason Riley; Linesmen_Kyle Flemington, Bob Goodman.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

Newly-signed Noesen makes fast first impression in WBS Pens win