VALENCIA— It wasn't a win. It was another step forward.

State College received a power-play goal from stellar defenseman Dan Petrick with 58 seconds left in the second period Monday night. The goal snapped a scoreless tie and sent the Lions on their way to a 2-0 PIHL victory over Butler at the Ice Connection.

Petrick scored three goals last week in State College's season-opening 6-1 victory over Meadville.

"Meadville is a perennial state power and that team popped six goals in against them," Butler coach Joe Honzo said. "We tried playing more of a defensive style tonight, sacrificing some offense so that wouldn't happen to us.

"We were hoping to take advantage of a power play or two, but we couldn't put one in tonight."

The Golden Tornado (1-2) had their opportunity in the second period. With the game still scoreless, State College took three successive penalties within the first three minutes, leaving itself two men short for stretches of 52 and 55 seconds.

Butler managed only two shots on goal during that time.

"We killed a two-man disadvantage against Meadville, too," State College coach Tim Holdcraft said. "It's not a situation we want to be in, but our penalty kill has always been pretty solid."

So was Butler goaltender Tim Smith.

State College (2-0) outshot the Tornado 41-15 and had five power-play opportunities. Petrick finally converted by snapping a wrist shot from the high slot into the right corner of the net on the Lions' final power play.

The visitors' second goal occurred with 8:32 left in the game when Cam Beaury banged home a rebound after Smith made a sprawling save on Alec Edson's shot.

"Their goalie was clearly the No. 1 star in this game,"Holdcraft said. "He aggressively came out and challenged our shooters. We couldn't figure him out."

Honzo agreed.

"Timmy was phenomenal — simply phenomenal," he said. "That team is loaded with talent. I've been coaching hockey for 18 years and some of those players were better than anyone I've ever seen around here. They've got a few guys who are going to be playing Division I college hockey."

State College was 18-0-1 in the PIHL's open division last year. The Lions returned to PIHLClass AAAfor the first time in three years this season.

"Since we're located toward the middle of the state, we've played in a few different leagues over the years,"Holdcraft said.

Butler's best scoring opportunity came late in the first period when Tanner Master was stopped at point-blank range by Lions goaltender Calvin Michael.

But Tornado shots were few and far between all night.

"Those guys were bigger than us, but you have to play with enough heart to knock them down anyway,"Butler defenseman Josh Elsass said. "We hung in there with them and they're one of the best teams in the state."

Butler won only three regular season games last year before ending the season with five straight wins in the Knoch Invitational.

The Tornado won their two preseason games this year, then its opener over Hempfield. Butler then dropped a 6-3 decision to Upper St. Clair in the final minutes.

"Every year I've been here, we've won one game, three games. ... It's different now,"Butler senior captain Dave Wolfe said. "We're not playing as individuals anymore. We're a family now."

Still lacking depth, Butler plays with two lines, one extra forward and four defensemen. State College used three full lines Monday night.

"Our kids dedicated themselves to conditioning and weight training all summer,"Honzo said. "They love the game and they're in great shape. We didn't get tired in the third period. That won't happen this year."

Butler plays Friday at Gateway.