UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 20 Penn State dropped a 5-0 contest in the series opener to No. 8 Michigan State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions fall to 10-8-3 overall and 2-6-3 in the Big Ten with the loss while the Spartans improve to 14-4-3 on the year and 8-1-2 in conference action following the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Spartans opened the scoring as Tanner Kelly redirected a shot from the point at the far post that snuck past the blocker of Nittany Lion senior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 1-0 edge at 4:49 of the first period.
- Michigan State extended the lead midway through the first frame as Reed Lebster skated into the zone on an odd-man rush during a penalty kill and buried a shot shortside over Souliere's glove for the 2-0 advantage at the 10:11 mark.
- MSU pushed the lead to 3-0 early in the middle frame as Gavin O'Connell went shortside through traffic from below the dot at the 3:51 mark.
- Joey Larson made the score 4-0 in favor of the visitors at the 13:48 mark of the second period.
- Larson added his second on the powerplay with just 2:37 left in the game for the the 5-0 final.
GOALTENDING
Souliere drops to 7-5-1 on the year after making a season-high 35 saves in the loss while his counterpart, Trey Augustine, improves to 12-3-2 on the year stopping all 31 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season.
NOTES
- Michigan State held the 40-31 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-5 with the man-advantage and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
- This marks the first time Penn State has been shutout in almost two years dating back to a 6-0 loss to Notre Dame on January 29, 2022.
- Freshman Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) sees his career-best point streak end at four games.
- Penn State is now just 2-5-3 when the opponent scores first this season.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to action tomorrow evening to close out the season series with a 4:30 p.m. puck drop in Hockey Valley. The game will air live on the B1G Network.
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.