Four Goal Third Period Lifts Men's Hockey Past Michigan State, 5-3Four Goal Third Period Lifts Men's Hockey Past Michigan State, 5-3
Craig Houtz

Four Goal Third Period Lifts Men's Hockey Past Michigan State, 5-3

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Led by senior captains Adam Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) and Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) Penn State rallied from a two-goal deficit with a four-goal third period to defeat Michigan State, 5-3, in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Munn Ice Arena.

The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Nittany Lions as they improve to 15-17-1 on the year and 6-16-1-1-1-1 in conference action while the Spartans drop to 11-21-1 overall and 5-18-0-1-0-0 in Big Ten action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the scoring as freshman Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) dropped the puck back near the left faceoff dot and junior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) collected it, toe dragged into the slot, and sniped far side and past the glove of Spartan net-minder Pierce Charleson for the 1-0 edge at 10:30 of the first period.
  • Michigan State evened the score with a powerplay tally as Josh Nodler ripped a rebound into a yawning net at the far post for the 1-1 score at 15:13 of the opening stanza.
  • The Spartans grabbed the lead early in the second period as David Gucciardi redirected a shot from the point out front that went top shelf for the 2-1 advantage just 70 ticks into the frame.
  • MSU pushed the lead to 3-1 late in the middle stanza during a 4-on-4 stretch as Jesse Tucker sprung Erik Middendorf on a breakaway and he beat Nittany Lion sophomore goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) past the glove on the backhand with just 6.4 ticks on the clock.
  • The Nittany Lions cut the deficit to a single goal early in the third period as Pilewicz laced a one-timer from the left point that redirected past Charleson for the 3-2 score just 50 seconds into the final frame.
  • Penn State clawed its way all the way back just under three minutes later capitalizing on a defensive zone turnover by the Spartans as DeNaples received a tape-to-tape pass from an MSU player in the slot and he spun and fired bar-down over the blocker of Charleson for the 3-3 score at 3:35 of the third period.
  • Junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) then gave the visitors the lead again as he sniped a shot into the far corner of the net on the powerplay for the 4-3 advantage at 15:29 of the third period.
  • Senior Ben Copeland (Edina, Minn.) then hit the empty net to leave no doubt and account for the 5-3 final at 19:16 of the final stanza.

GOALTENDING
Souliere improves to 5-4-1 on the season after a 27-save performance while Charleson drops to 3-8-0 after stopping 36-of-40 shots he faced.

NOTES

  • Penn State secured its first win this season in 11 chances when trailing entering the third period. The Nittany Lions are now 14-4-1 this season when scoring first.
  • The Nittany Lions are now 92-1-5 all-time when scoring five or more goals including a perfect 10-0-0 this season and are 14-2-0 on the year when scoring four or more goals.
  • Penn State held the 41-30 edge in shots on goal including the commanding 18-4 margin in the third period. The four third period goals are a season-high and just one shy of a program record.
  • Each team went 1-for-4 on the man-advantage while each also scored a 4-on-4 goal.
  • With his third goal of the season, Pilewicz has recorded a new career-best surpassing the two goals he had as a sophomore.
  • With a pair of assists freshman Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) secured his fifth multi-point game of the season while sophomore Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) also added a pair of assists for his fifth multi-point game this season and the eighth of his career.
  • With one goal and one assist in the game, Copeland secures his seventh multi-point effort this season and the 18th of his career while snapping a seven-game scoring drought.
  • The goal for MacEachern is his sixth powerplay goal this season tying the single-season Penn State record which is held by four other players.
  • With the win Penn State cannot finish lower than sixth in the Big Ten standings and will face either Notre Dame or Ohio State in the Big Ten quarterfinals next weekend.

NEXT UP
Both teams return to the ice tomorrow evening to close out the season series and the regular-season schedule with a 6 p.m. puck drop at Munn Ice Arena.

For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.