Penn State drops series opener at Michigan, 6-4
The No. 18-ranked Penn State men’s hockey program fell short of the No. 12-ranked Michigan Wolverines 6-4 Friday night.
The Nittany Lions move to 5-4-3 in the season, and 0-2-3 in Big Ten play.
The Wolverine power-play
Michigan held the top-ranked power play unit in the nation, scoring on 20 of their 50 chances on the man advantage coming into Friday night’s contest.
Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky said earlier in the week that staying out of the box against this Wolverine team is a crucial part of the team trying to find that lucrative win in Yost Ice Arena.
That played true Friday night as the Wolverines took advantage of two Nittany Lion penalties, capitalizing on their chances.
Gavin Brindley was awarded a penalty shot after a Jarod Crespo holding call, which he netted to then give Michigan a 2-0 lead early in the first period.
Jacob Truscott scored the only true power-play goal for the Wolverines, as he gave Michigan their largest lead of the game, 4-1, with his power-play goal just under the halfway mark in the second period.
Penalties were crucial in this game.
Almost another Nittany Lion comeback
Penn State has been playing from behind a lot in Big Ten play this season, trailing headed into the third period twice so far, and had to do it again Friday night.
The comeback started just over two minutes after the halfway point in the second period when Dane Dowiak netted his first NCAA goal to cut the Michigan lead down to 4-2.
Jacques Bouquot netted a power play goal just over three minutes later to bring the Nittany Lion deficit to just one, but Dylan Duke responded quickly to extend Michigan’s lead back to two.
Late in the third period, a Josh Eernisse major penalty put Penn State on the power play with 2:09 remaining in the game.
With a six-on-four advantage for Penn State, after they pulled Noah Grannan from goal, Aiden Fink netted a power-play goal to bring the Nittany Lions back to within one score.
The Nittany Lions fought to keep the puck in the offensive zone but could not get a good look before Garrett Schifsky scored the back-breaking empty net goal to seal the victory for Michigan.
The freshman
The “Kid Line” made up of Matt DiMarsico, Fink, and Reese Laubach has made a lot of noise this season and continued that tonight.
Both DiMarsico and Finked tallied goals Friday, with Fink earning an assist and DiMarsico earning two.
One Freshman who has been quiet this season was Dowiak, who earned his third point of the season with the first goal of his collegiate career.
Freshman earned six of the ten Nittany Lion points Friday night.
What’s next for Penn State
The Nittany Lions will take on the Wolverines again Saturday night in the series finale from Yost Ice Arena, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
