Michigan State Defeats Penn State In OT 5-4

 

At Beaver Stadium in a breathtaking outdoor showdown in front of a huge crowd, the Penn State Nittany Lions hosted the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday afternoon. In a back-and-forth battle, the Nittany Lions fell just short in a 5-4 overtime heartbreaker to the Spartans. While the final result was in favor of Michigan State, the Nittany Lions showed incredible resilience throughout the afternoon, putting on a show led by Aiden Fink's two-goal game while Gavin McKenna lived up to the hype with three points (one goal, two assists). For Michigan, Charlie Stramel was the star, winning it in overtime for the Spartans, while also completing a hat trick. The Nittany Lions are back at it on February 13th when they take on the Michigan Wolverines for two games before heading back to home ice. The Spartans look to keep their win streak going when they head to Ann Arbor for the Wolverines on February 6th.

Michigan State Spartans Lineup:

Russell - Stramel - Martone

Vansaghi - Nilson - Lee

O'Connell - Lindstrom - Romani

Mannisto - Shoudy - Jurecki

Ralph - Basgall

Geary - Strbak

West - Barnhill

Lahey

Augustine

Strahl

Gilbert

Penn State Nittany Lions Lineup:

McKenna - Dowiak - Fink

Dimarsico - Laubach - Wiebusch

Van Olm - Misa - Schoen

Katzin - Chin-DeGraves - Aman

Smith - Crespo

Christenson - Gadowsky

Schade - Collins

Reidler

Fleming

McFayden

Michigan gets on the board first with a goal by Daniel Russell early in the first period, scoring his 10th goal of the season at 17:36 when Charlie Stramel carried the puck through the neutral zone and into Penn State's end, whipping it in front of the net from the right circle. Russell quickly tipped it in past Kevin Reidler for the 1-0 lead.

Aiden Fink tied it 1-1 up only 13 seconds into the middle frame, flipping in a shot off the rush from the right circle for his fourth of the season when Dane Dowiak received a pass from Gavin McKenna along the left wall before moving near the blue line, making a pass to Fink in the neutral zone. Putting the Spartans back in front, Stramel made it 2-1 at 16:08, scoring off a breakaway rebound after Owen West made a stretch pass to Porter Martone, who got denied by Reidler before Stramel came in for his 14th goal of the season. McKenna tied it back up 2-2, grabbing his 11th of the season with 11:38 on the clock when Mac Gadowsky collected a loose puck, spun around, and made a pass to McKenna for a wrist shot from the slot. Fink gave Penn State their first lead of the game, 3-2, with his fifth goal of the season, and his second of the game, with 3:35 left in the second. Right off the face-off, McKenna got a hold of the puck in the left corner and passed it to Fink for a quick strike on one knee. With just seconds to go, Stramel beat the buzzer to make it 3-3 with his second of the afternoon. He took a pass from Russell, who was behind the net, and he ripped it past Reidler in close.

At 15:43 of the third period, Shea Van Olm found the back of the net to make it 4-3 when he converted on the breakaway after Michigan failed to keep the puck in Penn State's end. This was Van Olm's third goal of the season. Matt Basgall, with his third of the season, struck from the point to tie it 4-4 at 12:22 after Martone's attempt to stuff it in with a backhand failed.

With 1:53 to go in overtime, Stramel ended it by completing his hat trick in close to Reidler after the puck bounced from McKenna and Patrick Geary from along the left wall over to the right side for the 5-4 victory.

Notes:

- Kevin Reidler made a total of 35 saves for Penn State.

- Trey Augustine made a total of 31 saves for Michigan State.

- In his past five games, Gavin McKenna has 11 points: seven goals, four assists.

- Aiden Fink didn't score in seven games before his two goals in the outdoor game for Penn State.

- Charlie Stramel has six points in his past five games: three goals, three assists.

- With their 5-4 overtime win, the Spartans extended their winning streak to six games while handing the Nittany Lions their second straight loss.