Penn State hockey picks up historic win against Michigan

Penn State hockey continued its road trip throughout the state of Michigan this past weekend. Coming off a tie and loss against Michigan State in East Lansing, the Nittany Lions traveled to Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. Yost has been the ultimate house of horrors for the Penn State hockey program. Coming into the weekend, Penn State had won there just three times in 17 tries. The first of those wins miraculously came during the 2013-2014 season, the program’s inaugural year. The Nittany Lions followed that up with another win in the 2014-2015 season, but would not win there again until the 2019-2020 season. But now, the Nittany Lions can add another game to the win column in Yost Ice Area.

Comeback effort falls short for the Nittany Lions in game one

First Period

Things started in typical Yost fashion for the Nittany Lions in the series opener. Just two minutes into the contest, the Wolverines scored after consistently peppering sophomore goaltender Noah Grannon, yet again getting the Friday night start. The Wolverines were awarded a penalty shot before the midway point of the period and capitalized to double the lead. 

The penalty shot goal against seemed to wake up the Nittany Lions, and they were able to tilt the ice a bit. Before the end of the period, the talented freshman line made its presence known yet again. Aiden Fink sent a pass to Matt DiMarsico, who was waiting at the far post to tap the puck in and cut the deficit to 2-1. 

Despite giving up 14 of the 15 shots in the game, Penn State hockey went in the locker with the shots knotted up at 15 a piece and all the momentum.

Second Period

Momentum only matters in sports if you can capitalize it. Penn State hockey could not. Just over a minute into the middle frame, Michigan added a goal to extend its lead back to two. 

Midway through the period, the Wolverines added another goal on a power play to make the score 4-1. It seemed like this one was headed towards another standard Yost blowout. But, Penn State answered quickly. Freshman forward Dane Dowiak had a beautiful coast-to-coast goal for his first collegiate score to bring the Nittany Lions within two. 

Penn State wasn’t done just yet either. Graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot tipped a shot from Matt DiMarsico to pull the Nittany Lions within one. The Nittany Lions just needed to get to the end of the period within striking distance, but Michigan had a response of its own. The Wolverines answered in the dying minutes of the period to get the lead back to two.

Third Period

The third period got really chippy. There were 38 penalty minutes combined between the two teams in the 20 minute period, including a couple of ejections. There were some very hard hits, including one that sent a Michigan player to the hospital. Luckily, that Michigan player indicated in a social media post after the game that he is doing well. 

There was no scoring for most of the period among all the chaos. The first score of the period came with around two minutes left, when Aiden Fink scored one on the power play. The Nittany Lions would pull their goalie for the extra attacker, but Michigan quickly potted one into the empty cage to seal the 6-4 win. 

This was a back and forth contest that saw the Nittany Lions nearly pull off one of their patented comebacks. Noah Grannon made an impressive 38 saves in the defeat. Penn State was outshot 44-37, marking the first time this year this has happened to the Nittany Lions. 

Penn State hockey gets historic win over Michigan in Ann Arbor

First Period

With the risk of the season starting to spiral after losing two straight, the Nittany Lions desperately needed to do something special on Saturday night. Despite a hot start from Penn State, it was Michigan who struck first again. A dump in from center ice took a weird bounce off the end boards, off senior goaltender Liam Souliere’s skate, and into the net.

Penn State responded quickly, of course, from the freshman line. In a reversal of the first goal on Friday, Matt DiMarsico sent a pass to Aiden Fink who was waiting for the back post tap in to tie up the game. 

Penn State hockey dominated the period, outshooting the Wolverines 14-5.

Second Period

Just as the second period started with a goal for Michigan on Friday, it did Saturday as well. All of the sudden, after a dominating period, Penn State found itself trailing yet again. 

But the freshman line wasn’t done impressing just yet. Matt DiMarsico sent a thread-the-needle pass to Aiden Fink, who showed off his smooth hands to deke out the Michigan goaltender in close and tie the game again. But the excitement wouldn’t last too long for Penn State. Just 31 seconds later, Michigan retook the lead. 

Penn State just wouldn’t go away, however. With just around five minutes remaining in the period, senior forward Tyler Paquette redirected a shot from sophomore forward Dylan Gratton and the game was tied yet again. 

Penn State hockey was determined to not let this one slip away. Late in the period, it was the freshman line yet again. This time, Fink set up a Reese Laubach goal on a fluttering wrister to give the Nittany Lions a 4-3 lead. They would take this lead into the locker room for the second intermission.

Third Period

The third period was a battle. Michigan had some good looks to tie up the game, but Liam Souliere stood tall and protected his net.

Michigan would go for broke and pull its goaltender. Who else but Aiden Fink was able to capitalize on it, for the hat trick, the first one of his young career. This is the first hat trick for the Penn State hockey program since former star Kevin Wall did it against Niagara in October 2021. It is the second hat trick ever on the road for the Nittany Lions, the only other one occurring back in 2019. It is also just the fourth hat trick against a Big Ten opponent in program history. 

Fellow freshman Matt DiMarsico collected four assists in the game, tying a program record. The only other time a Nittany Lion recorded four assists in a game was then former Lion Connor McMenamin did it against Wisconsin in January of 2021. 

It took historic performance to get an historic win, but that is exactly what the Nittany Lions got.

Nittany Lions come home for a holiday weekend slate

Now 6-4-3 on the year, Penn State hockey will head back to Pegula Ice Arena for a quick break in conference play, when the Nittany Lions take on the Lindenwood Lions. The series is slated for Friday and Saturday, with puck drop scheduled at 4:00 p.m. for both games.

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