UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) netted a pair of goals as Penn State bounced back with a 4-2 victory over No. 14 Michigan in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 13-14-3 on the year and 5-12-3-0-0-2 in conference action with the victory while the Wolverines drop to 15-12-3 overall and 8-10-2-0-1-1 with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Michigan opened the scoring with a goal against the pace of play as T.J. Hughes found himself behind the defense on a great pass from Dylan Duke and he snuck one inside the far post for the 1-0 edge at 4:29 of the first period.
- Penn State answered with a powerplay tally to tie the score at 1-1 as Laubach deposited a rebound at the near post after fellow freshman Aiden Fink's (Calgary, Alberta) initial shot was turned aside at the 6:43 mark.
- The Nittany Lions took the lead late in the second period as sophomore Dylan Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) picked the corner over the blocker of Wolverine net-minder Jacob Barczewski for the 2-1 advantage at the 17:35 mark.
- Michigan tied the contest early in the third period as Frank Nazar III finished past the blocker of Penn State senior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) off a nice pass from Gavin Brindley on the rush for the 2-2 score at the 3:50 mark.
- Penn State responded again as freshman Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) crashed the net to cash in on a rebound after sophomore Alex Servagno's (Gibsonia, Pa.) initial shot went off Barczewski's pad for the 3-2 score at 7:30 of the final frame.
- Laubach iced the game with a 160-foot, empty-net score, his third goal of the weekend, with under two minutes to play to account for the 4-2 final.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere improves to 10-10-1 on the year after stopping 33-of-35 shots in the victory while Barczewski falls to 13-11-3 this season after making 38 saves in the setback.
- Souliere appeared in his 78th game as a Nittany Lion on Saturday night moving past Matthew Skoff '16 for second all-time behind the 133 games played by Peyton Jones '20. His 76 starts are the second-most all-time behind Jones.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 42-35 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 with the man-advantage and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
- The Nittany Lions remain a perfect 10-0-1 this season when leading after two periods of play.
- Saturday night's attendance of 6,571 ranks as the second largest in Pegula Ice Arena history.
- Junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) skated in his 100th career game on Saturday night becoming the seventh Nittany Lion to reach that milestone this season alone.
- With a secondary assist on Laubach's first period goal, senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) moves past Luke Juha '16 for fourth on the all-time Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen with 61 points. The assist also moves him past Erik Autio '18 for second on the all-time assist list for Penn State blueliners with 51 for his career.
- Laubach secured his first career multi-goal game while registering his second-straight and fourth career multi-point game on Saturday night.
NEXT UP
Penn State closes out its 2023-24 home slate next weekend with a visit from No. 4 Wisconsin for senior weekend.
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.