11/4/2022 other sports Edit

No. 13 Penn State takes down No. 1 Michigan

Jacob Cheris • Happy Valley Insider

Hockey Writer

Jacob is currently a senior at Penn State majoring in broadcast journalism. He is from Gaithersburg, Maryland and has played hockey for almost 13 years. His favorite team is the Washington Capitals.

A hockey game is 60 minutes. In order to win you can't play 55 minutes. The No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions played 60 and that is why they shutout the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines 3-0 in an incredible atmosphere at Pegula Ice Arena. 6,445 voices made up the second largest crowd in Pegula history on Friday night.

"The students bring a lot of energy. So we love it. We fed off it," Ashton Calder said. "Anytime we made just a small hit or something, it was loud."

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Friday's win marked the first time Penn State defeated a top-ranked opponent ever and the first time Penn State shutout Michigan since Feb. 8, 2014. The Wolverines' stars were held in check. Adam Fantilli, the nations leading point scorer, did not have a single shot on goal. Mackie Samoskevich was also held without a shot.

Junior goaltender Liam Souliere improved to 7-0, stopping all 17 Wolverine shots. This was also his second shutout in a row. This is the first time in Penn State history that the team compiled back-to-back scoreless games. Furthermore, he has not allowed a goal in the last 176:19 of game action which surpasses Oskar Autio's record of 167:09.

"The whole team made my job a lot easier," Souliere said. "We contained them and we played deep all night. They didn't really get any chances off the rush, which is where they usually get all their goals from."

The Nittany Lions held the Wolverines to four shots in the first period. Even though neither team scored, Penn State controlled the majority of play in the first 20 minutes.

"They played a great game," Michigan interim head coach Brandon Naurato said. "By winning every race and battle, it doesn't matter what your system and structure is or what concepts you're trying to do. We're an offensive team and they gave us nothing."

Michigan was without its star goaltender Erik Portillo for undisclosed reasons. Junior Noah West got the start and made 46 saves.

Penn State carried the momentum into the second period and eventually got on the board on a failed Michigan clear. Jimmy Dowd exhibited great patience and he found Ture Linden in front of the net, breaking the ice.

With the crowd buzzing, the Nittany Lions didn't stop there. After the Wolverines had a high-danger chance in front of the net, Penn State went on a 3-on-2 odd-man rush. After failing to convert on numerous scoring opportunities, Calder was the end-recipient of a perfect passing sequence from Connor McMenamin and Connor MacEachern at the 7:22 mark of the second.

"He created the most A-plus chances and it was really nice to see him get rewarded again," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "His 200-foot game has been excellent. And he's a guy that just somehow is able to create and create [chances]."

The Wolverines did start to turn up the pressure into the third period, but could not get the puck past Souliere. Xander Lamppa put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal at the 2:49 mark of the third. The Nittany Lions held the Wolverines to just three shots in the final frame.

Takeaways

1. Defense, defense, defense: Friday was yet another incredible defensive output for the Nittany Lions. They shut down the top scoring team in the nation and Michigan simply could not respond. Sticks were in passing lanes and Penn State played physical.

"We just put pressure on them all game," Souliere said. When [Michigan] has time and space, they'll be able to create stuff. And we took it away from them tonight."

The penalty kill was also 2-for-2.

2. Electric factory: The Roar Zone is one of the most feared student sections in college hockey and they brought the energy tonight. Gadowsky opened his postgame press conference thanking the student section and how that is the one thing he will remember from the game.

3. Light the Lamppa: The trio of Xander Lamppa, Christian Sarlo and Tyler Paquette started the game for the Nittany Lions. They were once again effective at forcing turnovers. Lamppa's empty net goal was his second goal in a row and his fourth point in three games.

Penn State will look to complete the sweep on Saturday at Pegula in what should be another great crowd.