ALLENTOWN, Pa. – No. 2/2 Michigan silenced a sold out and very pro Penn State crowd just 52 seconds into overtime on Sunday night as the Wolverines defeated the Nittany Lions, 2-1, on Mackie Samoskevich's OT winner in the Allentown Regional final inside the PPL Center.
Penn State concludes its season with a 22-16-1 record while Michigan improves to 26-11-3 on the year and will advance to its second-consecutive Frozen Four to battle Quinnipiac in the national semifinals on April 6. The 22 wins for Penn State this season are tied for the second-most in a single-season in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State broke a scoreless tie late in the second period as senior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) hit a yawning net off a rebound chance after junior Christian Berger's (St. Louis, Mo.) blast from the point was blockered away by Erik Portillo for the 1-0 edge at the 18:58 mark.
- The Wolverines evened the game midway through the third period with a powerplay tally of their own as Adam Fantilli snuck a rebound inside the near post for the 1-1 score at the 7:52 mark.
- Michigan then wasted little time ending the game in overtime as Mackie Samoskevich picked the corner from the slot over the blocker of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 2-1 final just 52 ticks into the extra frame.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere ends the year with 19-15-1 record after stopping 41-of-43 shots in the loss while his counterpart, Erik Portillo, improves to 24-11-2 on the year after making 31 saves in the victory.
- Souliere's 19 wins are good for the second-most in a single-season in program history while his 27 career victories are good for third all-time.
- The junior net-minder concludes the season with a 2.43 goals-against average, a new single-season program record, and a .917 save percentage, good for third all-time.
- Souliere's career numbers of 2.72 and .908 are good for first and second all-time entering next season.
NOTES
- Souliere and MacEachern along with junior defenseman Christian Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) were each named to the Allentown Regional All-Tournament team along with Michigan forwards Rutger McGroarty and Adam Fantilli and defenseman Luke Hughes.
- MacEachern finished the weekend with one goal and two assists and was 60 percent (24-for-40) on draws. Berger had one goal and two assists and was plus-2.
- Souliere stopped 65-of-67 shots posting a 0.99 goals-against average and a .970 save percentage on the weekend.
- Michigan held the 43-32 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 with the man-advantage. Penn State was 1-for-1 on the powerplay converting its lone chance.
- Sunday night's attendance was 8,375, a complete standing room only sellout at the PPL Center.
- The Nittany Lions fall to 2-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and are now 0-2 in regional final contests.
- Senior Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) collected a secondary assist on MacEachern's goal as he finishes his Nittany Lion career with points in back-to-back games ranking ninth all-time in both assists and points by a defenseman and tied for sixth in goals. DeNaples is also the all-time leader in plus/minus with a plus-58 rating in 172 games, which is also a program record. DeNaples did not miss a single game in his entire Penn State career.
- Penn State scored the opening goal for the 27th time in 39 games this season falling to 18-8-1 in such games with the loss.
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.