UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) scored once in regulation and again in the shootout to give No. 18 Penn State the victory over No. 1 Michigan State following a 2-2 tie in Big Ten Conference action at Munn Ice Arena on Friday evening.
The Nittany Lions run its current unbeaten streak to five games improving to 16-11-4 on the year and 7-10-4-1-1-3 in league play while the Spartans move to 22-5-4 overall and 13-4-4-3-2-1 in Big Ten action.
Penn State has now won three consecutive shootouts this season as well as three-straight against the Spartans, two of which have come this season while they have been ranked No. 1 in the nation.
The Nittany Lions are now 2-6-2 all-time against the top team in the country including a 2-3-2 mark over the four series dating back to the 2022-23 season.
REESER CALLED GAME!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/PI6y3Q0slE
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) February 22, 2025
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring as a strong chip on the far halfwall from graduate student Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) sprung an odd-man rush and freshman Keaton Peters (Sussex, Wis.) sauced a pass to sophomore Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and he skated in all alone beating Spartan net-minder Trey Augustine high past the blocker for the 1-0 edge at 7:18 of the first period.
- Michigan State evened the contest near the midway point of the second period as Tiernan Shoudy deposited a loose puck atop the goal crease for the 1-1 score at the 12:11 mark.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead in the final minute of the middle frame as Laubach wired a wrister shortside from below the dot over Augustine’s shoulder for the 2-1 edge at the 19:04 mark.
- The Spartans tied the contest again near the mid-point of the third period as right after a penalty expired Maxim Strbak took advantage of a faceoff win and skated between the rings before wiring a wrister past the glove of Nittany Lion junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) for the 2-2 score at the 8:36 mark.
- Neither team lit the lamp in the overtime session and the game advanced to a shootout with Sergeev stopping 3-of-4 shots and both senior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Laubach netting the goals for Penn State as they won the shootout 2-1.
GOALTENDING
Sergeev moves to 13-6-4 on the year after making 36 saves in the victory while Augustine moves to 15-5-4 on the year after stopping 31 shots.
NOTES
- Michigan State held the slim, 38-33, edge in shots on goal while neither team converted with the man-advantage, Penn State going 0-for-4 and the Spartans going 0-for-4.
- With one assist, senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) inches closer to Evan Barratt’s 95 career points, which are good for ninth all-time. Dzhaniyev currently has 89 career points.
- Penn State remains perfect when leading after two periods moving to 15-0-1 and are now 13-4-2 when scoring first this season.
- Penn State controlled the dot winning 57.3 percent (43-for-75) of faceoffs led by Dowiak who went 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) and Peters at 11-for-17 (64.7 percent).
- The Nittany Lions had 16 blocked shots led by a team-high four from freshman Cade Christenson (Edmonton, Alberta).
- The three shootout victories for Penn State are now the most in a single-season in program history while Lugris’ three shootout tallies is a new single-season Nittany Lion record.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Munn tomorrow evening to conclude the season series with another 6 p.m. puck drop airing nationally on the B1G Network.
For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.