No. 6 Men's Hockey Drops Series Finale to No. 17 Michigan StateNo. 6 Men's Hockey Drops Series Finale to No. 17 Michigan State

No. 6 Men's Hockey Drops Series Finale to No. 17 Michigan State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 17 Michigan State scored early and often using three-goal periods in the first and second en route to a 7-3 victory and series split against No. 6 Penn State in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday night inside Pegula Ice Arena.

Penn State drops to 11-3-0 overall and 5-3-0-0-1-0 in Big Ten action with the loss while the Spartans move to 9-4-1 on the year and 5-2-1-0-0-1 in conference play with the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Spartans opened the scoring as Matt Basgall sent a seeing eye shot through traffic that Nittany Lion junior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) never saw until it was behind him and Michigan State had the 1-0 lead just 2:40 into the contest.
  • Michigan State increased its lead to 3-0 with two goals in less than three minutes as Jeremy Davidson and Jesse Tucker lit the lamp at 5:51 and 8:43, respectively, to send Souliere to the bench.
  • Penn State never quit and cut into the deficit as junior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) intercepted a shot from freshman Dylan Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) and slipped it through the legs of Spartan goaltender Dylan St. Cyr for the 3-1 score at the 16:33 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions then benefitted from a five-minute major penalty assessed to Michigan State's Jagger Joshua for interference and scored twice in a 59 second span late in the first period to tie the score.
  • Senior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) redirected a shot from freshman Jarod Crespo (Eastampton, N.J.) at 18:57 before senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) finished into a yawning net off a beautiful no-look, behind the back pass from sophomore Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) with just 4.5 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
  • Michigan State regained the lead midway through the second period as Karsen Dorwart finished off a centering feed from Tiernan Shoudy for the 4-3 edge at the 10:41 mark.
  • The Spartans would get two more before the middle frame came to an end as Cole Krygier fired one home from the slot at 13:35 and Daniel Russell ripped in a rebound at 18:48 for the 6-3 lead heading into the second intermission.
  • Dorwart added the late empty net goal for at 16:27 for the 7-3 final.

GOALTENDING

  • Souliere didn't factor in the decision after allowing three goals on the first six shots of the game.
  • Freshman Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.) drops to 2-1-0 on the year after making 21 saves over the final 50:06.
  • Dylan St. Cyr moves to 8-4-1 on the year after stopping 30-of-33 shots in the victory.

NOTES

  • Wall became the third different Nittany Lion this season to skate in his 100th career game on Saturday night joining classmates Connor McMenamin and Connor MacEachern.
  • With the Spartans opening the scoring it marked just the third time in 14 games this season that Penn State failed to score the first goal of the game. The Nittany Lions are now 1-2-0 when the opponent scores first.
  • With one goal and one assist, Sarlo collects his first multi-point game of the season and the fourth of his career. He now has three goals and three assists for six points in his last six games.
  • Tonight was the first time Penn State has allowed seven goals since a 7-2 loss at Notre Dame back in February of last year. It was also the first time the Nittany Lions have surrendered seven or more goals at home since a 7-3 loss to Wisconsin on February 23, 2019.
  • Penn State drops to 21-15-4 all-time against the Spartans with Saturday night's loss being just the fifth in 20 games against Michigan State at Pegula Ice Arena.
  • Penn State held the slim 33-31 edge in shots on goal while going 2-for-5 on the man-advantage. The Nittany Lions did not have to kill a penalty all evening as the lone Penn State penalty was part of coincidental minors in the second period.

NEXT UP
Penn State has a quick turnaround as they take a break from conference play for a week with the Alaska Nanooks coming to town for a Tuesday-Wednesday series prior to Thanksgiving. Tickets are available for each game HERE.

For more information on the 2022-23 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.