No. 12 Penn State Drops, 4-0, Contest at No. 20 Michigan
For Immediate Press Release – Friday, January 19, 2018
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The 12th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions dropped their second-straight game as No. 20 Michigan secured the 4-0 victory tonight in Big Ten Conference action from Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.
Penn State falls to 13-9-3 on the year and 6-6-3-2 in the Big Ten while the Wolverines move to 11-10-2 overall and 6-7-2-1 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Michigan opened the scoring just after a power-play expired as Josh Norris slipped the puck off the far post from the right side of the crease and Jack Becker tapped in the rebound for the 1-0 lead at 12:27 of the first period.
- Penn State had a golden chance for the equalizer midway through the second period as senior James Robinson (Cochrane, Alb.) found himself behind the defense for the second consecutive game, but his breakaway bid was stuffed by Wolverine sophomore net-minder Hayden Lavigne to keep the score 1-0 in favor of the hosts.
- Michigan extended the lead to 2-0 as Joe Cecconi fired a shot from the point off an offensive zone draw that was tipped out front by Becker and trickled past Penn State sophomore goaltender Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) at 10:38 of the final period.
- The Wolverines continued the pressure as Josh Norris fired a wrister past Jones from the right dot off a nice drop pass from Jake Slaker for the 3-0 margin at 14:29 of the third period.
- Brendan Warren then added a shorthanded, empty net tally at 18:13 of the third period for the 4-0 advantage.
GOALTENDING
Jones falls to 12-7-2 on the year after collecting 31 saves while Lavigne improves to 3-0-0 all-time against Penn State and 7-6-2 on the year after collecting 34 saves to complete his fourth career shutout and second this season.
NOTES
- Michigan held the 35-34 advantage in shots marking the third consecutive game Penn State has been outshot by its opponent.
- Penn State falls to 5-7-0 on the year when allowing the first goal of the game as they are shutout for the second time this year.
- Neither team converted with the man-advantage going a combined 0-for-7.
- Penn State has now been held scoreless at Yost Ice Arena for the last seven periods and 124:51 of game action and haven’t scored a goal this season over the last five periods and 107:07 of game action.
- Penn State is now just 2-7-0 all-time at Yost Ice Arena and 0-6-0 in its last six games being outscored by a combined 32-5.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Yost tomorrow night to close out the regular season series with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.