Men's Hockey Falls Late to No. 2 Minnesota in B1G SemifinalMen's Hockey Falls Late to No. 2 Minnesota in B1G Semifinal
Brad Rempel

Men's Hockey Falls Late to No. 2 Minnesota in B1G Semifinal

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Fifth-seeded Penn State battled back from a two-goal deficit but the Nittany Lions were unable to complete the comeback as a late third period goal gave top-seeded and No. 2 Minnesota the 3-2 victory in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday evening inside 3M Arena.

Penn State finishes its season 17-20-1 while the Gophers improve to 24-11-0 and will face second-seeded Michigan in the Big Ten Championship next Saturday at 8;00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Minnesota opened the scoring midway through the first period as Ben Meyers redirected a point shot to the left of the crease and past Nittany Lion sophomore net-minder Liam Souliere's (Brampton, Ontario) glove for the 1-0 edge at the 12:04 mark.
  • The Gophers extended the lead early in the second period with a powerplay tally as Jackson LaCombe sent a shot from the point on net that leaked through Souliere for the 2-0 advantage just 27 ticks into the frame.
  • Penn State cut the deficit in half as sophomore Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) sauced a pass to a streaking Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) and he skated in uncontested beating Gopher goaltender Justen Close back post past the blocker for the 2-1 score at 14:58 of the second period.
  • The Nittany Lions tied the contest just under three minutes later with a man-advantage tally of their own as freshman Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) redirected a shot pass from junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) past the glove of Close for the 2-2 score at 17:35 of the second period.
  • Minnesota found the game-winner after a failed clear attempt by Penn State as Sammy Walker received a pass from Blake McLaughlin at the far post and he had a yawning net and didn't miss for the 3-2 score at 17:21 of the third period.

GOALTENDING

  • Souliere drops to 7-7-1 on the year after making 22 saves on the night while Close improves to 12-3-0 after stopping 28-of-30 shots.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the 30-25 edge in shots on goal, while going 1-for-2 on the powerplay. Minnesota was 1-for-1 on the man-advantage.
  • The Gophers earn their first-ever postseason victory against Penn State as the Nittany Lions fall to 3-1 against Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament games and 2-5 in tournament semifinal contests.
  • Lugris has now registered a point and scored a goal in three-straight games for the first time in his young career.
  • Lugris' powerplay tally snapped a streak of four-straight games without a man-advantage tally for the Nittany Lions.
  • With a secondary assist on Lugris' second period goal, freshman Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) now has a career-best three-game assist streak while tying his career-long point-streak from earlier this season.
  • Penn State finishes the year 8-11-0 on the road while going just 3-7-1 in one goal games and 1-16-0 when the opponent scores first.

For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.