Deja Vu for Penn State as They Take Down the Top Team in the Nation for the Second Straight Week
It would appear that lightning does indeed strike twice, at least in the case of the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions.
For the second consecutive week, the blue and white have taken down the No. 1 team in the country, this time by a score of 4-2 over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday night.
Penn State opened the scoring for the ninth time in 11 games just six minutes into the contest, with senior forward Connor McMenamin feeding fellow senior Connor MacEachern on a one-timer.
MacEachern would go on to score early in the third period and add an assist for a career-high three points on the night.
The two-goal performance is also his first multi-goal game of the season and just the third of his career.
One of the keys coming into this series was once again staying disciplined and winning the special teams battle.
Both teams were extremely disciplined throughout the game, each only taking one penalty, but the Nittany Lions would escape with a slight edge thanks to Christian Sarlo.
As the second period wound down into its final seconds, Sarlo came out of the box after serving a hooking minor and outwaited the Golden Gophers goaltender, Justen Close, to give the Nittany Lions the 2-1 advantage heading into the final frame.
Last week for the blue and white, the story revolved around how Adam Fantilli and Luke Hughes would fare against a stingy Nittany Lions squad.
Head coach Guy Gadowksy and Penn State were pleased with its ability to contain the two superstars, holding Fantilli to just one goal and one assist whereas Hughes had just one assist on the weekend.
Heading into Mariucci, the headline was relatively the same, with all eyes on how Jimmy Snuggerud and Logan Cooley would show out in a top-10 matchup.
The feeling of deja vu continued for the Nittany Lions as they once again shut down the superstars of the opposition.
While Cooley finished with a goal and an assist on the night, Snuggerud was virtually invisible all night, only being held to two shots on goal.
The contest had a different feel than the previous win over the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines, however, as the Golden Gophers seemingly controlled the majority of play.
A large part of that control came from the faceoff dot, where Minnesota edged out Penn State 27-to-20, one of the few times this season the blue and white have lost the faceoff battle.
Despite the Golden Gophers controlling the pace of play, junior netminder Liam Souliere was up to the task yet again for the Nittany Lions, stopping 24-of-26 shots and keeping Penn State in the driver's seat when it needed it most.
While deja vu has been the feeling floating around in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions will look to improve upon last week’s performance and go for the sweep over the No. 1 team in the nation on Friday night.
Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu
