Costin’s Overtime Winner helps Penn State Stave Off Michigan Comeback on Senior Night

Story posted April 9, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Matt Scalzo

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – History tends to repeat itself.

For the second straight year, Penn State and Michigan needed overtime to decide their Senior Night matchup, and it ended in déjà vu.

Last year, Mac O’Keefe scored the winner, but this time Mac Costin took his turn at playing hero, as he found a little space and bounced it home, 9-8.

It was the first win for the blue and white since Feb. 26 when it upset No. 5 Yale, 10-6, snapping a five-game losing streak.

The Nittany Lions jumped ahead early as Dan Reaume potted the first goal, then just seven seconds later Hudson Bohn won the ensuing faceoff and raced down for the goal to make it 2-0 in the opening minute.

Panzer Stadium reached a fever pitch with two minutes left in the first quarter. Senior captain Brian Townsend rocked Jacob Jackson forcing a turnover, Jack Posey then picked up the ground ball and went the length of the field before bouncing it past Shane Carr, 3-1.

It was the second straight game for the junior long-pole, both of the goals were the first of Posey’s career.

Michigan got one back, but the Penn State offense responded with three straight goals to send it to the halftime break, 6-2.

“I thought our guys played well offensively for the most part,” coach Jeff Tambroni said. “I think a lot of that is a product of the age of the group out there and the product of where we've been over the last number of weeks.”

Six different players scored for the Nittany Lions, while both of Michigan’s came from one player, Justin Brown.

It was a tale of two halves for both sides, as in the final 30 minutes the maize and blue started to ramp it up defensively, which sparked its offense.

While in the third quarter Penn State was able to maintain its four-goal lead, the fourth quarter was dominated by Michigan on both ends of the field.

Brown continued his career night as he tallied his third and fourth of the game to cut the deficit to two, 8-6, but it didn’t stop there.

The sophomore added his fifth a minute later, and then Josh Zawada tied it up with a jump shot with a little over three minutes left to go, 8-8.

Neither side added another before the end of regulation, so an extra four minutes went on the clock.

“Stay the course there was something that we harped on and you can ever get too high, never get too low in this sport. It's a game of runs,” senior captain Brayden Peck said on the team’s response down the stretch. “Just playing off each other is just a key part to this game.”

With 2:34 left in overtime and time winding down on the shot clock Costin, had his initial shot blocked, tried again and was able to sneak the long shot past Carr and into the back of the net for the win.

“We practiced it all the time, one goal game situations, finding those extra plays and extra energy to win,” Townsend said. “So to see those guys succeed at the end tie game and overtime it means the world, it's awesome.”

The Nittany Lions had a balanced attack with seven different goal scorers. Brown led the way for Michigan with five goals, he came into tonight with just four goals overall.

It was a special night at Panzer Stadium as the blue and white were honoring their 11 seniors: Tommy Baker, Nate Buller, Jordan Donaghy, Tate Gallagher, Jake Glatz, Seamus Glynn, Kelly, Peck, Reaume, Townsend and Joe White.

I think statistically it is probably not going to be one of our most impressive based goals and assists,” Tambroni said. “I think if you just look at that you're overlooking a big piece of what this group has done, the way they manage to handle themselves as young men in the classroom, in the community, and here on campus.”

After closing out the homestand on a high note, Penn State will hit the road for the final two contests of the year, starting next week with Johns Hopkins at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

“To see these guys come back and just happen. character to win it like that at the end. Hopefully will give us a little boost as we continue on in the Big Ten season,” Tambroni said.

Matthew Scalzo is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mms7477@psu.edu.

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Matt Scalzo

Third Year / Broadcast Journalism

Matthew “Matt” Scalzo is a third-year from Ridgefield, Connecticut majoring in broadcast journalism. Matt is a Basketball Insider, broadcaster and writer for the sports department. With CommRadio he has called football, hockey, basketball, baseball, volleyball and lacrosse games. Matt has called matches for Penn State Women’s Volleyball on both TV and radio. He has written countless articles and appeared on podcasts, live shows and is a host of the Chi-Town Sit-Down with Thomas English, which covers everything Chicago sports. Matt spent the 2022 summer as the Drector of Broadcasting & Media for the Sanford Mainers in the NECBL. If you want to contact him, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).