Penn State fans are focused on football this weekend, but the men’s hockey team made sure they gave them something to pay attention to.
Beating the No. 1 team in the country, for the first time in program history, will get that done.
No. 13 Penn State dominated No. 1 Michigan and improved to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten with a 3-0 win at Pegula Ice Arena Friday Night.
Penn State got two of its three goals in the second period. Ture Linden started the scoring at 7:08 of the second period, off a shot by Jimmy Dowd Jr. Dowd and Simon Mack each got assists. The team doubled its advantage more than five minutes later. Ashton Calder scored, with Connor MacEachern and Connor McMenamin. In the third period, Xander Lamppa sealed the game with an empty-netter.
Penn State got another outstanding performance from goaltender Liam Souliere. Souliere saved all 17 shots. For Michigan, Noah West allowed two goals on 46 shots, but Michigan couldn’t get any offense.
Michigan was playing without its starting goaltender, Erik Portillo, who is also a third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres.
The game was the first time in eight years that Penn State hosted the No. 1 team in the country and just the fourth game against the top ranked team in program history. Previously Penn State was 0-3-0 against the nation’s top team.
Penn State will look to stay unbeaten tomorrow night, finishing off its two-game set with No. 1. Start time is scheduled for 7:30, which should line up well with the ending of Penn State’s football game at Indiana, which is scheduled for 3:30.
