ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Freshman Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) tallied twice but it wasn’t enough as Penn State dropped a, 7-3, contest to No. 13/12 Michigan following a four-goal third period for the Wolverines in Big Ten Conference action from Yost Ice Arena on Saturday evening.
The Nittany Lions see their six-game unbeaten streak halted and fall to 12-11-3 on the year and 3-10-3-1-1-2 in league play while the Wolverines improve to 15-11-2 overall and 9-8-1-4-0-1 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Michigan opened the scoring for the second-straight night with a goal against the run of play as TJ Hughes found a loose puck atop the goal crease and deposited it into the back of the net for the 1-0 edge at 7:43 of the first period.
- Penn State evened the score just 49 ticks into the second frame as a line rush led to a beautiful finish from Cerrato as he got in all alone and slipped the puck through the five-hole of Wolverine goaltender Cameron Korpi for the 1-1 score.
- The Wolverines regained the lead with a powerplay goal as Ethan Edwards laced a wrister over the glove of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) from the slot for the 2-1 advantage at 5:14 of the second period.
- The Nittany Lions wasted little time bringing the game even again as Cerrato caused a turnover at the offensive blue line and then was rewarded with his second goal of the game as he slipped the puck five-hole at the far post after a beautiful feed from classmate JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) for the 2-2 score just 17 seconds later.
- A rush the other way tilted the game back in favor of the hosts at the midway point of the middle frame as Michael Hage snuck one through Sergeev at the far post during an odd-man rush for the 3-2 lead at the 9:53 mark.
- Michigan extended the lead near the midpoint of the third period with three goals in a 2:23 span as William Whitelaw burst into the zone on an odd-man rush and beat Sergeev far side under the glove at the 7:58 mark and less than a minute later Garett Schifsky collected a rebound in the slot and ripped it into the back of the net at the 8:49 mark.
- Evan Werner pushed the lead to 6-2 as he laced a one-timer from the far circle at the 10:21 mark.
- Sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) gave the visitors some life with the first shorthanded tally of his career as junior Carter Schade (Mars, Pa.) sprung in on a breakaway and the sniper didn’t miss for the 6-3 deficit at 11:29 of the third period.
- Will Horcoff hit the empty net for the 7-3 margin at the 16:19 mark.
GOALTENDING
Sergeev drops to 9-6-3 on the year after making 34 saves in the loss, while Korpi improves to 7-7-1 after stopping 36 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- Michigan held the slim 41-39 advantage in shots on goal while going 1-for-2 on the man-advantage and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
- Wiebusch now has points in a career best five-straight games after securing his fifth multi-point effort of the season with a pair of assists.
- The two-goal game for Cerrato is his second multi-goal game of the season and the eighth multi-point effort of his rookie campaign.
- Penn State registered a shorthanded score for the second-straight game marking the second time this season the Nittany Lions have scored a shorty in back-to-back games as they accomplished that same feat in a season opening series at Alaska on October 5-6.
- The six shorthanded goals are the most in the Big Ten and tied with Clarkson and St. Thomas for third in the nation.
- Fink’s 19 goals on the year are tied for the fourth-most in a single season in Penn State history as he looks to become just the fourth Nittany Lion all-time to hit the 20-goal mark in a season.
- The seven goals are the most allowed by the Nittany Lions since a 10-6 loss to this same Michigan Wolverine team back in November at Pegula Ice Arena.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains on the road with a trip to Madison to battle the Wisconsin Badgers next Friday and Saturday evening.
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.