No. 1 Michigan State Shows Fight, Falls Short as No. 18 Penn State Spoils Senior Night
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- It simply took too long for No. 1 Michigan State to get to its game in its regular-season home finale against No. 18 Penn State on Saturday.
What was supposed to be a special night for the Spartans' seniors turned into a bitter loss for Michigan State, as the Spartans were bested, 3-2.
The Nittany Lions were able to pull off the upset despite being outshot by 20 (44-24), a lopsided aggressiveness from Michigan State that can mainly be attributed to the third period, when the Spartans posted 19 shots on goal, compared to a mere five by Penn State.
Michigan State junior forward Karsen Dorwart led the way for the Spartans, finishing with 2 points -- a goal and an assist.
The Spartans were seemingly doomed from the get-go, as Penn State scored two goals not even 2 minutes into the contest.
Despite the two early goals, there would be no more scoring the rest of the period. Each team would have a power play, but neither was able to capitalize.
It didn't take long for the scoring to pick back up in the second period, though, as Penn State sophomore forward Aiden Fink, the nation's leading point scorer, sent one between the pipes with a power-play goal less than a minute-and-a-half in.
That was the lone power-play goal of the contest.
It wasn't until the third period that Michigan State would finally start to show some life.
It was looking like a shutout was on the horizon, but a shorthanded goal from sophomore forward Tommi Männistö would finally put the Spartans on the board. He was assisted by Dorwart and graduate defenseman Nicklas Andrews.
Michigan State would strike once more with less than 10 seconds remaining, as Dorwart found the back of the net to make it just a one-goal game. He was assisted by junior forward Isaac Howard and junior defenseman Matt Basgall.
The Spartans were unable to pull off the miracle, and despite a stellar third-period push, fell just short.
Michigan State falls to 22-6-4 on the year and 13-5-4 in Big Ten play. It will head on the road to take on Notre Dame next weekend in what will be its last series of the regular season.
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