UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A valiant comeback effort fell short as Penn State dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 14 Michigan in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions drop to 12-14-3 on the year and 4-12-3-0-0-2 in conference action with the loss while the Wolverines move to 15-11-3 overall and 8-9-2-0-1-1 with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Wolverines came out of the gates hot scoring two goals on their first two shots just 61 seconds into the contest as Rutger McGroarty slipped a bouncing puck inside the far post and Josh Eernisse went bar down after a clean faceoff win for the 2-0 score.
- Michigan extended the lead late in the first period with a powerplay tally as McGroarty netted his second of the game on a one-timer from the near faceoff dot for the 3-0 edge at the 18:14 mark.
- The visitors pushed the margin to 4-0 with a shorthanded goal as Dylan Duke poked the puck free in the neutral zone before skating in along and beating Nittany Lion senior net-0minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) through the five-hole at 3:47 of the middle frame.
- Penn State got on the board with some crisp passing from freshman Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) as he feathered a pass backdoor right on the tap of junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y) and he one-touched it past Wolverine goaltender Jacob Barczewski for the 4-1 deficit at the 13:23 mark.
- The Nittany Lions got another back early in the third period as Laubach redirected a shot from junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) at the doorstep for the 4-2 deficit at the 3:47 mark.
- The hosts cut the deficit to a single-goal after sophomore Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) caused a turnover in the defensive zone and went coast-to-coast on an odd-man rush and laced a wrister past the blocker of Barczewski for the 4-3 score at the 16:05 mark.
- Gavin Brindley hit the empty net to seal the 5-3 victory for the Wolverines with just 48 ticks left on the clock.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere drops to 9-10-1 on the year after making 24 saves in the the defeat while Barczewski improves to 13-10-3 this season after stopping 25-of-28 shots in the victory.
- Souliere appeared in his 77th game as a Nittany Lion on Friday night moving into a tie with Matthew Skoff '16 for second all-time behind the 133 games played by Peyton Jones '20. His 75 starts are the second-most all-time behind Jones.
NOTES
- Michigan held the slim 29-28 edge in shots on goal including the 16-6 edge over the final 20 minutes after Penn State controlled the second period with a 16-4 shot advantage including holding Michigan without a shot over the final 14:50 of the frame.
- It marks just the sixth time all season Penn State has been outshot falling to 0-6-0 in such contests.
- Penn State was unable to capitalize on five powerplay chances while the Wolverines went 1-for-4 on the man-advantage.
- Friday night's attendance of 6,499 ties for the sixth-most in Pegula Ice Arena history.
- With a secondary assist on Dzhaniyev's goal, senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) moves into a tie with Luke Juha '16 for fourth on the all-time Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen with 60 points. The assist also moves him into a tie with Erik Autio '18 for second on the all-time assist list for Penn State blueliners.
- Both Laubach and Dzhaniyev registered one goal and one assist securing their third and eighth multi-point efforts of the season, respectively. For Dzhaniyev it marks the 16th of his career.
- Dzhaniyev's second period goal snapped a scoreless streak of 157:51 for the Nittany Lions.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow to conclude the season series with a 7 p.m. puck drop. The game will air nationally 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.