No. 11 Penn State men’s hockey (13-7-2, 5-6-1 Big Ten) finished its series against Michigan State (7-12-3, 3-7-2 Big Ten) with a 6-4 loss on Saturday night.

Chase Berger scored twice for the Nittany Lions while Alec Marsh and Nate Sucese also added goals. Penn State’s defense struggled to contain the Spartan attack throughout Saturday’s game, allowing six goals on 37 shots.

Peyton Jones made 32 saves as he fell to 9-5-2 on the year.

How It Happened

The first five minutes of the game were fairly uneventful, but Michigan State opened the scoring with 12:35 to play in the first period. The Spartans capitalized after a host of chances right in front of Peyton Jones’ net to take the first lead of the evening.

Alec Marsh buried his fifth of the season to even the score at one with 4:05 to play, but Michigan State took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. Tommy Apap and Taro Hirose’s goals 46 seconds apart gave the Spartans a two-goal cushion to work with after 20 minutes of play.

Momentum was firmly in Michigan State’s hands after the first period, especially considering Apap and Hirose’s goals both came within the final minute of the frame.

Penn State bounced back from its slow start and put together a strong second period. Chase Berger’s eighth tally of the season drew the Nittany Lions within a goal with 15:18 to play in the frame, and the captain scored again on the power play to tie the game at three late in the second period.

The Nittany Lions took control of proceedings during the middle frame, outshooting the Spartans 15-8 and scoring twice to even things up, but Michigan State responded perfectly with an early third-period goal. Peyton Jones was beaten clean through the legs as the Spartans re-gained the lead with 18:26 left in the final frame.

Michigan State’s Mitchell Lewandowski extended the lead to 5-3 with 13:17 left in the third period after an easy tap-in on the power play.

Penn State peppered the Spartans’ goal with chances — including one by Alex Limoges which was swept off the goal line at the last possible moment — but couldn’t find a way past goalie John Lethemon until 6:32 remained in the third period.

Nate Sucese blasted a one-timer past Lethemon to trim the deficit to 5-4, but Penn State’s ensuing comeback attempt fell short. The Spartans added an empty netter late in the game to secure just their third win in conference play this year.

Takeaways

• Congratulations are in order for alternate captain and senior blueliner Kevin Kerr. He reached the 100 games played milestone in tonight’s contest. Kerr’s maintained an average of a point every other game so far in his NCAA career, totaling eight goals and 51 points.
• Penn State couldn’t have imagined having a worse first period of tonight’s game, but also couldn’t have asked for a better response in the second period. Senior captain Chase Berger stepped up with two goals to tie the game entering the final 20 minutes of play.
• A slow start to the third period ultimately doomed Penn State in tonight’s game. A misfire on a one-timer by Kris Myllari led to the Spartans’ first goal of the period, and then good puck movement on the power play created Michigan State’s backbreaking fifth goal of the evening.

What’s Next

Penn State’s next game will come against No. 4 Ohio State under White Out conditions. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Friday at Pegula Ice Arena.