No. 13 Penn State Men’s Hockey Upsets No. 1 Michigan 3-0
No. 13 Penn State men’s hockey (9-0-0 overall, 3-0-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 1 Michigan (7-2-0 overall, 0-1-0 Big Ten) 3-0 under a raucous atmosphere at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State dominated Michigan from the start. The Nittany Lions scored two goals in the second period, then tallied an empty-netter late in the third period to complete a massive upset over the Wolverines.
How It Happened
Head coach Guy Gadowsky spiced things up for Penn State’s game one lineup against Michigan. Christian Sarlo, Xander Lamppa, and Tyler Paquette were the starting forwards, while Jarod Crespo and Christian Berger started on defense. Liam Souliere started in goal, per usual.
Meanwhile, Michigan’s Noah West started in goal after Erik Portillo was scratched. It was West’s first start of the season.
Connor MacEachern had an early chance for the Nittany Lions, picking up a turnover and crashing the net 42 seconds into the game.
Penn State forced multiple turnovers early on and applied pressure on the Wolverines. Michigan had a few decent chances, but Penn State definitely started off playing like the better team.
At 15:01 in the first period, Crespo was sent to the penalty box for elbowing to give Michigan the first power play of the game. The Wolverines were on the one-man advantage for barely a minute, as they followed up by taking a penalty for too many men on the ice.
Both teams had power play opportunities, but neither scored and the period ended scoreless. The Nittany Lions had the better period, outshooting the Wolverines 16-4.
Penn State went on the power play for the second time of the game at 2:21 in the second period, with Luke Hughes going to the sin bin for hooking. The Nittany Lions didn’t generate much, and the Wolverines regained full strength.
Then, at 7:18 in the second period, Ture Linden scored right in front of West to make it 1-0. Pegula Ice Arena, which had been loud the whole game, erupted into a frenzy.
Penn State scores first, and Pegula Ice Arena is BUZZING
— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 5, 2022pic.twitter.com/SeCHp10wor
The Nittany Lions continued to make life difficult for West and the Wolverines, taking shot after shot on goal.
Then, Penn State struck again. This time it was Ashton Calder, who picked up a pass from Connor MacEachern and shot the puck into the goal right in front of the net at 12:38 in the second period to make it 2-0 Penn State.
Tic-Tac-GOAL
— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 5, 2022pic.twitter.com/k7m8grDBrT
However, the momentum didn’t end for Penn State. Michigan’s Ethan Edwards took an elbowing penalty, giving Penn State another crack at a power play. Michigan wound up killing it.
The second period ended with Penn State up 2-0 and in the driver’s seat, having outshot Michigan 34-10 thus far.
Michigan started to play better in the third period. The Wolverines had several good chances against Souliere, a couple of which deflected off the goalposts.
Penn State followed up with a dangerous chance right in front of the net, but West stopped the shot and Michigan cleared the puck.
Both teams played back-and-forth and neither could generate that many chances. The game remained physical, but things had largely calmed down in the third period.
Then, Christian Berger took a two-minute interference penalty at 13:30 in the period. Michigan whiffed on multiple chances and Souliere slammed the door shut on Michigan’s hopes of a power play goal once again.
Michigan pulled West for an extra skater, and Xander Lamppa capitalized on the opportunity at 17:11 in the third period to make it 3-0 Penn State late in the game.
Michigan took a brief penalty, but that would do it. The Nittany Lions completed a massive, 3-0 upset over the No. 1-ranked team in the country to continue a historic, undefeated start.
Takeaways
- Pegula Ice Arena’s official attendance of 6,445 is the second-largest in its history, and it certainly seemed like it. The atmosphere was a noisy and boisterous one from the start, and definitely one of the louder game environments in recent memory.
- Penn State was absolutely dominant. The Nittany Lions put up 49 shots against the Wolverines and cruised to victory.
- Liam Souliere had another solid night. With 17 saves and a shutout, Souliere continued to keep Michigan at bay in arguably the biggest game of his career so far.
What’s Next
Penn State and Michigan finish the series with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night at Pegula Ice Arena.
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