Wolverines prove Kryptonite to Nittany Lions, Penn State falls 6-4

Story posted November 16, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Andrew Destin

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Host Penn State (8-2,0-1) opened a two-game set with the Michigan Wolverines (6-4,2-1) by blowing a 4-2 lead en route to a stunning 6-4 victory for the Wolverines.

Michigan started out fast with a powerplay goal off the stick of Joseph Cecconi at the 4:40 mark. Coming directly after the 2-minute minor penalty on Nikita Pavlychev for holding, Cecconi got the puck at the top of the point and went bottom right post to give the Wolverines a quick 1-0 lead.

The Nittany Lions tied the game at one with a powerplay goal of their own, coming from center Evan Barratt, his sixth of the year. Before the scoring would come to a halt in the first, Penn State center Ludvig Larsson gave the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead on his fourth goal of the season.

The second period produced an identical goal tally, giving Penn State a 4-2 lead. The first goal of the second came on a breakaway by Penn State left winger Nate Sucese at the 1:00 mark. Sucese elected for a backhanded wrister over the left pad of Michigan goaltender Strauss Mann, and Sucese was set up beautifully on a high arching pass by assistant captain Brandon Biro.

Michigan cut the lead in half on Nick Pastujov’s fifth goal of the year, bringing the score to 3-2 with 15:10 left in the second. Liam Folkes seemed to give the Nittany Lions a commanding 4-2 lead on his fifth goal of the season.

Defenseman Derian Hamilton was called for a boarding penalty early in the final period, and after several offensive chances and immediately after Hamilton’s penalty concluded, Michigan’s Josh Norris put away his seventh goal of the season and cut Penn State’s lead to one goal.

With 8:10 left in the third, Michigan right winger Jack Becker scored off a rebound on Nick Pastujov’s shot.  Penn State goaltender Chris Funkey tried to corral the puck before Becker could get to it, but Becker was too quick, putting away the easy one timer to tie the game.

Just minutes later, Larsson was called for tripping, one of seven Penn State penalties on the night. Ten seconds into the powerplay kill, Jake Slaker recorded an unassisted powerplay goal, his sixth goal of the season. Seemingly an easy save for Funkey, the puck went right over his right shoulder, and the Wolverines found themselves ahead 5-4 in Happy Valley.

“We’ve tried to focus on it, trying to hold each other accountable more in practice. It’s something that’s a little ticky-tacky, and at the end of the day, we’ve got to be better at it,” Senior captain Chase Berger said, alluding to the multitude of penalties that plagued the Nittany Lions, specifically with how strictly officials have been calling stick penalties.

“We got a couple breaks and bounces, and that obviously helped,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said, referring to Penn State's penalties and Funkey’s play that helped the Wolverines steal a road Big Ten matchup. “The Big Ten is tough, it’s going to be hard every night. We’ll look back at some point in the season on these three points, because they’re hard to get” Pearson said.

Penn State pulled Funkey with under two minutes to go, but they were unsuccessful on the offensive end, and with 17.4 seconds to go, Jake Slaker netted his second goal of the night, leading to a final of 6-4. Slaker was assisted on the play by Will Lockwood, his third assist of the night.

Coach Gadowsky was particularly upset with the loss due to the presence of a vibrant crowd at Pegula Ice Arena, especially with the departure of many students for Thanksgiving break.

“It’s tough to waste that crowd, all the student section packed. It’s so nice to see and we feel really bad. We wasted a great atmosphere.” Gadowsky said.

Penn State begins Big Ten play with an 0-1 record after tonight’s loss, and none will hurt as much as this.

“Every loss is bad. When you’re up going into the third, it’s even worse” Gadowsky said, referring to Michigan’s four goal eruption in the third.

The second game of this series is tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena, where the Nittany Lions will try to draw even after a heartbreaking loss.

 


Andrew Destin is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ajd6360@psu.edu.