ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Freshman Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) registered a hat-trick as No. 18 Penn State defeated No. 12 Michigan, 5-3, in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena.
The win marks the 200th in program history for the Nittany Lions.
PSU improves to 6-4-3 overall and 1-2-3-0-0-2 in conference action while the Wolverines drop to 6-6-2 on the year and 2-4-2-0-0-1 in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Michigan opened the scoring as Garrett Schifsky sent a harmless dump in hard off the end boards and it bounced toward the crease hitting off the back of Nittany Lion goaltender Liam Souliere's (Brampton, Ontario) legs and trickled across the goal line for the 1-0 lead at the 10:44 mark of the first frame.
- Penn State pulled the game even less than two minutes later with a powerplay goal as freshman Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) sent a beautiful pass to Fink at the back post for the tap in score and 1-1 game at 13:22 of the first period.
- The Wolverines regained the lead early in the middle frame as T.J. Hughes finished past the blocker of Souliere from the slot during an odd-man rush for the 2-1 edge just 70 ticks into the period.
- The Nittany Lions tied the game as the "Kid Line" came alive again and DiMarsico sent a brilliant pass to Fink streaking up the near side and he used a nifty forehand-backhand-forehand finish in tight for the 2-2 score at 8:33 of the second period.
- Michigan responded just 31 ticks later as Nick Moldenhauer found the back of the net for the 3-2 advantage at the 9:04 mark of the middle stanza.
- Penn State tied the contest again as senior Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) redirected a shot from sophomore Dylan Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) for the 3-3 score at the 15:15 mark.
- The "Kid Line" was at it again late in the period as Fink set up freshman Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) and his shot fluttered off a defenders skate and past Wolverine net-minder Jake Barczewski for the 4-3 lead at 18:44 of the second period.
- Fink then hit the empty net to seal the victory with just 28 seconds remaining in the third period.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere improves to 5-2-1 on the year after making 22 saves in the victory while his counterpart, Barczewski, falls to 5-5-2 on the year after stopping 26 shots.
- Souliere's 32 career victories are now tied for second all-time at Penn State with Matt Skoff '16.
NOTES
- Penn State held the slim 31-25 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-3 on the powerplay and a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill against the nation's top powerplay unit entering the weekend.
- The victory for Penn State marks the first at Yost Ice Arena since December 7, 2019 snapping a streak of five-straight losses in Ann Arbor. Penn State is now just 4-15-0 at Yost Ice Arena.
- Fink has now scored in four of his last five games including three-straight, a new career-long goal streak, and with points in three-straight games he ties his career-high point-streak.
- Fink's four points are a new career-best and mark his fourth multi-point game of the season and the hat-trick marks his first career multi-goal game.
- Fink's hat-trick is the 11th in program history and first since Kevin Wall tipped the hat against Niagara on October 22, 2021. The hat-trick is just the second on the road in program history as he joins Liam Folkes '20 who scored three times at Merrimack back on November 29, 2019.
- The hat-trick is just the fourth for a Nittany Lion against a Big Ten opponent and is the second recorded against Michigan as Evan Barratt scored his hat-trick against the Wolverines back on November 17, 2018.
- With four assists, DiMarsico secures a career-high point total and his second-straight multi-point effort. The four assists also tie the program record for assists in a single-game and he becomes the first Nittany Lion to reach that mark since Connor McMenamin did so against Wisconsin on January 22, 2021.
- With a secondary assist on Fink's first period goal, graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot (South Windsor, Conn.) extends his point-streak to five games tying his career-long. Bouquot also has assists in four-straight games which ties his career-best assist streak.
- With one goal and one assist, Laubach secures his first career multi-goal game.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home for four-straight games beginning with a non-conference series against Lindenwood next Friday and Saturday with puck drop slated for 4 p.m. each day.
For more information on the 2023-24 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.