UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State fought hard leading multiple times but couldn’t hang on as No. 1 Michigan State used a trio of third period goals to secure the 6-4 victory in Big Ten Conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.
The Nittany Lions drop to 8-10-1 on the year and 1-9-1-0-1-0 in Big Ten play with the loss while the Spartans improve to 18-2-1 overall and 9-1-1-2-0-1in league action following the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions opened the scoring as sophomore Casey Aman (Johnstown, Pa.) found classmate Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) behind the net and he wrapped the puck inside the near post and past Spartan net-minder Luca Di Pasquo for the 1-0 edge at 6:05 of the first period.
- Penn State doubled the lead as a strong forecheck from senior Carson Dyck (Lethbridge, Alberta) caused a turnover behind the net and he fed the puck out front where classmate Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) was waiting uncontested, and he didn’t miss from atop the crease for the 2-0 edge at the 13:32 mark.
- Michigan State cut the deficit in half near the end of the first stanza as Isaac Howard slipped in a rebound at the far post after Daniel Russel’s initial shot was turned aside for the 2-1 score at the 16:18 mark.
- The Spartans pulled things even early in the second frame as Russell found himself alone out front and he slipped the puck through the five-hole of PSU junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) for his second of the game and the 2-2 score at 5:55 of the period.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead as freshman Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) collected the puck behind his own goal line and skated coast-to-coast up the near wall before cutting toward the center of the ice and firing back past the glove of Di Pasquo and inside the near post for the 3-2 margin at 13:24 of the second period.
- MSU tied the contest again with a powerplay tally as Matt Basgall laced a one-timer through traffic from the point that Sergeev never saw making the score 3-3 at the 15:55 mark.
- Michigan State then grabbed the lead near the midpoint of the third period as Howard tipped the hat beating Sergeev under the blocker off a nice drop pass by Tanner Kelly for the 4-3 score at the 7:10 mark.
- The visitors extended the lead to 5-3 during a stretch of 4-on-4 hockey as Karsen Dorwart punched a rebound over the shoulder of Sergeev at the 14:19 mark.
- Penn State responded with the net empty scoring an extra attacker goal as Cerrato found sophomore Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) out front for the 5-4 deficit at the 16:26 mark.
- Howard then iced the game scoring his fourth goal on the powerplay as he let loose from the slot beating Sergeev past the blocker for the 6-4 score with 2:07 remaining in the third period.
GOALTENDING
Sergeev drops to 5-5-1 on the year after stopping 39 shots in the defeat while Di Pasquo collected 29 saves in the victory to move to 7-0-0.
NOTES
- Michigan State held the 45-33 edge in shots on goal while going 2-for-5 with the man-advantage while the Nittany Lions were 0-for-2 on the powerplay in the game.
- The four-goal game for Howard marks the second time this season an opposing player has registered four goals as he joins Michigan’s T.J. Hughes who scored four times against the Nittany Lions on November 23.
- Cerrato has now scored in two-straight games as he ties his career-long point streak with points now in three straight. With one goal and one assist he notches the seventh multi-point effort of his career.
- Cerrato’s 4-on-4 tally is the first such goal this season for the Nittany Lions in that situation and the one scored by Dorwart marks the first four on four goal surrendered as well.
- Fink extends his point streak to five games with his first period goal as he has now registered at least one point in 11 of his last 12 games. Fink has only been kept off the scoresheet three times this season and he is one game shy of tying his career long point streak.
- Senior Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) collected a pair of secondary assists in the game marking his fifth multi-point effort of the season and the ninth of his career. Mack has also now reached the 50-point threshold for his career and sits just two points shy of Vince Pedrie for eighth on the all-time Nittany Lion defenseman scoring list.
- The extra attacker goal for Penn State is the second of the season, Dzhaniyev scored a 6-on-4 goal against Wisconsin on November 15.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to conclude the weekend series with a 6 p.m. puck drop in Hockey Valley.
For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.