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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The third-seeded Penn State men's hockey ended its 2015-16 campaign in the Big Ten Semifinals to second-seeded and seventh-ranked Michigan, 7-2, on Friday at Xcel Energy Center.
Penn State (21-13-4) out-shot Michigan (22-7-5), but it was the Wolverines who were able to find the back of the net early in the first, and then often in the second, to build a 5-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions received power-play goals from defensive pairing Kevin Kerr (Bensalem, Pa.) and Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario). Michigan's Kyle Connor scored four goals including a natural hat trick to pace the Wolverine offense.
An even opening 10 minutes gave way to a sloppy possession by the Nittany Lions where they turned the puck over in their own end and failed to clear the zone. Eventually a Dexter Dancs effort and a Michael Downing attempt were blocked allowing Max Shuart to put away the loose puck for a 1-0 lead with 9:25 to go.
The lead doubled on an Alex Kile power-play tally from Tyler Motte and JT Compher with 3:05 remaining. Penn State out-shot the Wolverines 12-10 for the frame.
In the second, Connor scored only 48 seconds into action on Compher's second assist and he made it two in a row on the power play with 14:31 remaining for a 4-0 lead. That goal chased Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.) from the game in favor of Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.). McAdam finished with 14 saves and Skoff made 18 stops.
Connor's hat trick was completed with an even strength goal midway through the period on Compher's fourth assist of the game.
The Nittany Lions got on the board with 8:15 remaining in the period when Kerr put away a beautiful feed from Goodwin, who was patient with the puck on the right wing to find the freshman lefty driving down the left wing. The goal was Kerr's first career power-play goal.
Penn State was given an opportunity to eat into the four-goal deficit when Downing took a five-minute major for contact to the head late in the second period to give PSU a 4-on-3 power play in the second and a regular power play in the third.
Sandwiched in that interrupted power play was a Boo Nieves goal only 46 seconds into the third period during a brief stretch of 4-on-4 play for a 6-1 advantage. Nieves redirected a Nicholas Boka offering, which came from the right point, in front of the net.
The Nittany Lions went back on the power play and another perfect pass from Goodwin set up Juha's eighth goal of the season only 42 seconds after the Nieves tally. Goodwin received a pass from Kerr on the right wing and sent a puck through Michigan's defense to a streaking Juha as he snapped one past Steve Racine (40 saves) top shelf.
Goodwin's two assists gave him 27 for the year, setting a new program record. Goodwin finished with a team-high 38 points, two shy of the single-season program record and has 90 for his career. Kerr picked up his second multi-point game of his career and first since Nov. 13, 2015 vs. Sacred Heart.
Friday's game was the final for a group of eight seniors, seven of which have been with the program for all four years of the program's varsity years: Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.), David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta), Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.), Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.), Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia), Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.), Juha and Skoff.
NITTANY NOTES
• Penn State dropped all five matchups to Michigan this season, falling behind in the all-time series 8-6-0.
• Penn State set its own record for most goals in the Big Ten Tournament with seven between the two games. Entering this year's tourney, PSU had only four goals in three games over two tourneys.
• The Nittany Lions are now 0-2-0 all-time in the Big Ten Quarterfinals and 2-2-0 all-time at Xcel Energy Center.
• Penn State out-shot Michigan 42-39. It was the 28th time PSU out-shot its opponent this season (17-7-4) and the 21st time in 37 games PSU fired at least 40 shots on frame.
• David Goodwin gathered his 19th career multi-point game and his team-leading ninth of the season. He set a new career high for points in a season with 38 on 13 goals and 35 assists (new single-season school record).
• Luke Juha finishes his career with 15 goals, 45 assists and 60 points. All three totals are Penn State program records by a defenseman.
• Penn State played in its single-season record 38th game of the year. Five Nittany Lions played in all 38 games, which is also a new single-season record: Chase Berger, Kenny Brooks, Ricky DeRosa, Goodwin and Olczyk.
• Penn State set new single-season program records for games played (38), wins (21), goals (140), assists (226), points (366), goals per game (3.68), power-play goals (31), short-handed goals (12), shots (1,579), shots on goal per game (41.6), neutral site wins (3), overtime wins (3), winning percentage (.605) and saves (1,164).