No. 5 Men's Hockey Falls to No. 2 Michigan State, 5-4, in OT-Thriller at Beaver StadiumNo. 5 Men's Hockey Falls to No. 2 Michigan State, 5-4, in OT-Thriller at Beaver Stadium

No. 5 Men's Hockey Falls to No. 2 Michigan State, 5-4, in OT-Thriller at Beaver Stadium

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) scored twice, but it wasn’t enough as No. 5 Penn State dropped a heartbreaker in overtime against No. 2 Michigan State, 5-4, in Big Ten Conference action at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s attendance of 74,575 is the second-largest crowd to watch a collegiate hockey game all-time only trailing The Big Chill at The Big House on December 11, 2010.

Penn State falls to 18-8-0 with the loss and 10-6-0 in Big Ten play while the Spartans improve to 21-5-0 and 12-4-0 in conference play.

GavBeaver

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Michigan State opened the scoring for the second-straight game as Danile Russell redirected a centering pass by Charlie Stramel into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead at 2:23 of the first period.
  • Penn State responded just 13 ticks into the second period as junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) blew past a defender before wiring a wrister past the blocker of MSU net-minder Trey Augustine for the 1-1 score.
  • The Spartans responded as Stramel slipped a rebound into the back of the net after Port Martone’s initial chance was turned aside for the 2-1 lead at 3:51 of the middle frame.
  • The Nittany Lions pulled the game even again near the midway point of the second period as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) ripped a shot from the low slot past Augustine for the 2-2 score at the 8:23 mark.
  • Penn State then grabbed its first lead of the game as McKenna fed Fink for a one-timer in the low slot and the 3-2 advantage at 16:25 of the second stanza, however, MSU found the equalizer with a powerplay goal as Stramel found his second of the game with just two ticks remaining in the frame.
  • The hosts came out flying early in the third period and regained the lead as freshman Shea Van Olm (Calgary, Alberta) stripped the puck in the neutral zone and skated in on a breakaway before firing a wrist shot under the glove of Augustine for the 4-3 edge at the 4:17 mark.
  • Michigan State answered again just over three minutes later as Matt Basgall fired a wrister through traffic from the point that Nittany Lion sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) never saw until it hit the back of the net for the 4-4 tie at the 7:38 mark.
  • Heading into the overtime frame the game was back-and-forth early before Stramel was left alone between the rings and he roofed a backhand over Reidler’s pad for the golden goal and 5-4 victory at the 3:08 mark of the extra session.

GOALTENDING

Reidler falls to 10-4-0 on the year after making 35 stops in the defeat while Augustine moves to 19-5-0 following a 31-save performance in the victory.

NOTES

  • MSU held the 40-35 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-2 on the man-advantage and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
  • Junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) played in his 100th career game on Saturday, however, he saw his career-long point streak end at eight games after he was kept off the scoresheet.
  • With his two goals Fink secures his first multi-goal game of the season and the eighth of his career while registering his seventh multi-point game of the season and the 31st of his career.
  • Fink now pulls even with Kevin Wall ’23 for ninth on the Penn State all-time goals list with 43 for his career, one shy of David Goodwin ’17 for eighth.
  • With one goal and a pair of assists, McKenna collects his team-leading 10th multi-point game of the season.
  • McKenna has once again pulled even with DiMarsico for the team lead in points with 32
  • Junior Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) collected a career-high three assists to tie his career-high in points while securing his fourth multi-point effort of the season and the ninth of his career.
  • Penn State has now been scored first on in four-straight games dropping to 8-7-0 in such games this season.

NEXT UP

Penn State has a bye next week leading into a road series in Ann Arbor against top-ranked Michigan.

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.