UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) collected three points on one goal and one assists, however, No. 5 Penn State’s comeback bid feel short in 6-3 loss to No. 2 Michigan State in Big Ten Conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.
Penn State sees its winning streak end at seven games as the Nittany Lions drop to 18-7-0 with the loss and 10-5-0 in Big Ten play with 31 points while the Spartans improve to 20-5-0 on the year and leapfrog the Nittany Lions into first in the B1G standing with 33 points and an 11-4-0 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Spartans opened the scoring with a goal against the run of play as Anthony Romani got behind the defense and slipped the puck past the outstretched pad of freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) for the 1-0 edge at 4:02 of the first period.
- Michigan State then added a pair of late powerplay goals to head into the intermission with the 3-0 lead as Owen West wristed one through traffic that Fleming never saw at 14:59 and Romani got his second of the game with a backdoor tap-in at the 18:26 mark.
- Penn State got on the board just past the midway point of the second period with a powerplay goal as freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) rang one off the iron and in from the high slot for the 3-1 deficit at the 11:18 mark.
- The visitors regained the three-goal advantage just under four minutes later as Porter Martone slipped in a rebound after Matthew Lahey’s initial bid was turned aside at the 15:14 mark.
- The Nittany Lions again cut into the deficit early in the third period as senior Carter Schade (Mars, Pa.) sent a beautiful pass to the back post from the high point and junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) had the easy redirect into the yawning net for the 4-2 score at the 3:27 mark.
- The hosts continued the pressure and cut the deficit to a single-goal just as a powerplay was winding down as DiMarsico finished off a feed from sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) atop the goal crease for the 4-3 score at 8:42 of the third period.
- Penn State opted for the empty-net with 2:21 remaining in the game and the Spartans put two in over the final two minutes with Romani registering the hat-trick with the first at the 17:59 mark and Daniel Russell hitting the empty net a second time at 19:38 to account for the 6-3 final.
GOALTENDING
Fleming drops to 8-4-0 on the year after making 30 saves in the defeat while his counterpart, Trey Augustine, moves to 18-5-0 after stopping 33 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- Both teams had 36 shots on goal to go along with a pair of powerplay goals as the Nittany Lions went 2-for-5 and the Spartans 2-for-6 on the man-advantage.
- Friday night’s attendance of 6,591 is the largest of the season and the third-largest in Pegula Ice Arena history.
- With their three-goal first period, the Spartans are now outscoring opponents 35-6 over the opening twenty minutes this season.
- Smith’s goal is his eighth of the season tying him with four other former Nittany Lions, including current assistant coach Vince Pedrie, for the Penn State single-season record. Pedrie is the lone Nittany Lion blueliner to accomplish the feat in multiple seasons.
- Smith added an assist to collect his fourth multi-point game of the season.
- With his three-point night, DiMarisco regains the team lead with 32 points while collecting his eighth multi-point game of the season and the 20th of his career as well as advancing his career-long point streak to eight games.
- Penn State has now been scored first on in three-straight games dropping to 8-6-0 in such games on the season.
NEXT UP
Both teams head across the street to Beaver Stadium to conclude the season series with the first-ever men’s hockey outdoor game in venue history at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
For more information on the 2025-26 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.