ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) scored twice, but it was not enough as No. 6 Penn State dropped a, 6-3, decision to No. 2 Michigan in Big Ten Conference action at Yost Ice Arena on Saturday evening.
Penn State falls to 18-9-1 and 10-7-1 in Big Ten play following the loss while the Wolverines improve to 24-5-1 on the year and 15-4-1 in conference action with the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Wolverines opened the scoring coming out of the first media timeout after winning the offensive zone draw clean it was Cole McKinney redirecting a pass from Luca Fantilli just inside the near post for the 1-0 edge at the 7:34 mark.
- Michigan extended the lead to a pair as Ben Robertson used a power move going from right to left across the goal crease before slipping the puck off Nick Moldenhauer and past the pad of Nittany Lion sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) for the 2-0 advantage at the 11:29 mark.
- Penn State cut the deficit in half less than a minute later as junior Casey Aman (Johnstown, Pa.) dropped the puck back to Laubach in the low slot and he wired a wrister past the glove of Wolverine net-minder Jack Ivankovic for the 2-1 score at 12:27 of the first period.
- The hosts regained the two-goal advantage with a powerplay goal as Jayden Perron finished from the bumper for the 3-1 lead at 13:27 of the second period.
- With time winding down on a powerplay Michigan extended the lead near the midway point of the final frame as Will Horcoff slipped the puck out front and it redirected off a Nittany Lion skate and past Reidler for the 4-1 score at the 10:28 mark.
- Adam Valentini made the score 5-1 just a few minutes later as he scored from the left dot at 13:27 of the third period.
- Laubach added his third goal of the weekend as he slid one inside the far post on the powerplay for the 5-2 score at 16:20 of the third period.
- Freshman Luke Misa (Oakville, Ontario) then redirected a point shot from classmate Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) in the low slot and past Ivankovic for the 5-3 deficit at the 18:09 mark.
- Moldenhauer then hit the empty net to seal the 6-3 victory with 61 ticks remaining in the game.
GOALTENDING
Reidler drops to 10-5-0 on the year after making 20 saves in the setback while his counterpart Ivankovic improves to 19-5-1 overall after stopping 30-of-33 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- Penn State held the, 33-26, edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 on the man-advantage while Michigan went 2-for-2 on the powerplay for the game.
- Laubach now has goals in four of his last five games and has scored in back-to-back games for the third time this season. The junior also secured his second multi-goal game of the season and the sixth of his career while securing his third multi-point game of the season and the 16th of his career.
- Junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) secured the secondary assist on Laubach’s goal giving him 19 assists on the season to tie his career-high while his 34 points are a new career-best surpassing the 32 he had last season.
- With one goal and one assist Misa secures his third multi-point game of the season.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home next week for a Big Ten series against Ohio State on Friday and Saturday evening at Pegula Ice Arena with both games airing nationally on the B1G Network.
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.