Hockey: Penn State fails to complete sweep over Spartans, falls 7-3 in series finale
Penn State’s sixth-ranked men’s hockey program failed to complete its sweep attempt against No. 17 Michigan State on Saturday night, falling 7-3. The Nittany Lions are now 11-3 on the year and 5-3 in Big Ten play.
How it Happened
The first period was one to remember. Michigan State got the scoring started early with a Matt Basgall unassisted goal early on. Jeremy Davidson followed Basgall with an unassisted goal of his own with 14:09 to play in the first period.
Jesse Tucker then found the back of the net again for the Spartans. With assists from Karsen Dorwart and Tiernan Shoudy, Michigan State took a 3-0 lead with still 11:17 to play. Penn State pulled goalie Liam Souliere after the goal; replacing him with Noah Grannan.
With 3:27 left in the first period, Christian Sarlo answered the Spartans with a goal for the Nittany Lions, assisted by Dylan Gratton. Michigan State’s Joshua Jagger then earned a five-minute major penalty for roughing Ben Schoen with a hit to the head of. Schoen was down and needed to be helped up, but eventualy got off the ice on his own power.
Tyler Gratton then got a power play goal for the Lions with 1:03 to play in the period, assisted by Jarod Crespo and Carter Schade. Moments later, Kevin Wall tied it up with a goal assisted by Chase McLane and Sarlo with just seconds left on the clock.
Going into the second period, that left the two teams deadlocked. Not for long, though, as Penn State’s three unanswered goals to close the first period were also their last.
Dorwart netted first, assisted by Shoudy and Michael Underwood with 9:19 to play in the period, giving the Spartans a 4-3 lead. Cole Krygier followed the Dorwart goal with a score of his own with 6:25 to play, with the assist from Justin Jallen. Daniel Russel scored the sixth goal for the Spartans, assisted by Dorwart and Shoudy, with just 1:12 to play in the second period. This gave the Spartans a 6-3 lead moving into the third period.
Much quieter than the previous two periods, both offenses struggled to get going, and neither team put quality shots on the net. The only scoring in the period came from Dorwart as he scored his second goal of the night, unassisted on an empty net.
Takeaways
Penn State started the night sluggish again but came back from a three-goal deficit to conclude the first period.
“I felt really good about this game at the end of the first, and maybe we exhaled a little bit,” said Guy Gadowsky.
When asked if the team understood why it has struggled to close out wins in the second game of a series, Kevin Wall was left without answers. “I wish I could give you an answer,” he said. “Just like we all wish we could give Gads an answer. I have no idea. Tonight, I just think they wanted it more. I think that’s just been the story. It’s getting really frustrating.”
Friday night, Gadowsky said scoring first was the worst thing that could’ve happened to the team as they got a little too relaxed afterward. When asked if Saturday’s comeback had a similar effect, Gadowsky responded, “I didn’t feel that way, I honestly thought things were going to roll our way.”
What’s next for Penn State?
The Nittany Lions play the opener of their series against the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena.
