Penn State Loses in Double Overtime, Swept by Michigan

Story posted January 18, 2020 in

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Down by one, with a minute and a half to spare, Penn State (16-7-1, 8-5-1-0) battled back to send it to overtime, where it eventually lost 5-4 to Michigan (10-11-3, 5-7-1-2) with 11 seconds to go in the second overtime period.

Coming off their 6-0 loss to Michigan on Friday, the Nittany Lions came out very strong, controlling the puck entirely for the first few minutes of play. Throughout the game, it seemed that neither team could stay out of the penalty box and it took Michigan only 35 seconds to commit a penalty, the first of four on the night for them.

Penn State also committed five penalties of its own, but its strong penalty kill ability helped in those situations. Penn State dominated throughout the first period, as it kept the pressure on Michigan goalie Strauss Mann with more than ten shots on goal by the halfway mark. Finally, six minutes into the first, an Alex Limoges shot ricocheted off the pad of Michigan goalie Strauss Mann and Liam Folkes got the rebound and slid it right in for Penn State to strike first on the power-play.

Penn State continued to create opportunities throughout the first period but couldn’t find the back of the net beyond the first goal. The Wolverines started the second period stronger than they had in the first period, capitalizing on small turnovers and putting more pressure on Nittany Lions goalie Oskar Autio.

However, a Michigan turnover lead to a Kris Myllari one-timer, which was originally saved and ricocheted outright to Nate Sucese, who shot it in on goal. The puck went past the pipe and bounced right out, leading the referees to call it a no-goal. After originally refusing to review the call, the refs took another look at the shot and called it a goal to put the Lions up 2-0 with 15 minutes left in the second.

Less than a minute later, a Penn State turnover lead to a Nolan Moyle one-timer shot off a centering pass from Jacob Hayhurst, as Michigan got on the board to make it 2-1. Shortly after, just as they were beginning to set up an offensive push in Penn State’s zone, Michigan’s Nick Granowicz released a slow rolling shot that went just past Oskar Autio, who couldn’t get his pad on it.

With four minutes left in the second period, Kris Myllari took a shot from the point, which was saved by Strauss Mann, but Evan Barratt took the rebound and tapped it in to put the Nittany Lions up 3-2.

Michigan again came out strong and set up a couple of opportunities in the beginning of the third period, but Penn State matched the intensity on offense. Just as Penn State was getting confident, they let up a quick Michigan breakaway that saw Jacob Hayhurst shoot a quick shot on goal to score and even up it up at 3.

Just three minutes later, Penn State failed to clear the puck out of the zone right in front of Oskar Autio and Nick Granowicz quickly tapped it into the net to make it 4-3, which gave Michigan its first lead of the game.

Down one with less than three minutes to go and their goalie pulled, all hope seemed to be lost for the Nittany Lions. However, a skirmish in front of the Michigan net lead to a loose puck and Evan Barratt slammed it home to tie up the game at 4. The game remained knotted at 4, so thegame went to overtime.

The first overtime period was filled with great scoring chances for both teams, but neither team was able to push one through the net.

The second overtime period was more of the same, as each team set up great looks and kept the pressure on net, despite only playing with three skaters. Finally, with 11 seconds to go, Michigan skated quickly into Penn State’s zone and Garrett Van Whye finished it off with a slapshot goal to give the Wolverines the extra point.

“We need everyone to be competing at the highest level,” Coach Guy Gadowsky said. “Today is encouraging, but it’s [just] a start.”

The Nittany Lions are back in action next weekend when they travel to East Lansing to play the surging Michigan State Spartans (12-10-1, 8-4-1).

 

Josh Portney is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jxp776@psu.edu.