Spartans Fall To Red-Hot Nittany Lions 3-2

East Lansing, Mich. -- No. 1/1 Michigan State spotted visiting Penn State a pair of goals in the opening 1:40 of the game and proceeded to run up against a hot goalie in Arsenii Sergeev (42 saves) in a 3-2 loss to No. 18/17 Penn State on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions (17-11-4, 8-10-4 B1G) are 9-1-2 over their last 12 games and push their unbeaten streak to six games over the last three weekends, sweeping both Wisconsin and Notre Dame before a tie and a win this weekend in East Lansing. MSU drops five of six points in a weekend for the first time in 2024-25.

A flurry of an opening 100 seconds led to two goals that Spartan goalie Trey Augustine had little chance to stop – first an odd-man rush goal by Charlie Cerrato, followed by a defensive-zone turnover by MSU that led to a one-timer by JJ Wiebusch on the intercepted pass from the slot. The third PSU goal came on the power play 1:27 into the second period (by Aiden Fink), and Cerrato picked up the assist for a two-point night.

Trey Augustine allowed just a power play goal at 1:27 of the second period after the initial flurry in the opening 1:40. He stopped 24 shots – 11 in the second period and faced just five third-period attempts as MSU spent long stretches dominating in the offensive end.

Trailing 3-0 entering the final 10 minutes of regulation, MSU (22-6-4, 13-5-4) poured it on in its own end, posting 19 third-period attempts. MSU was faced with killing a 5-on-3 after penalties 37 seconds apart. The Spartans extinguished the first infraction, and then scored on a shorthanded rush by Tommi Männistö at 12:02, MSU's fifth shorthanded tally of the season. Nicklas Andrews' clearing attempt caromed off the stick of a PSU player and into the neutral zone, where Karsen Dorwart tracked it down as Männistö came off the bench and raced into the offensive zone. Männistö raced into the low slot, where Dorwart's pass found the winger for teh Finn's third goal of the season

As time wound down in regulation, MSU pulled Augustine for an extra skater, and put a second goal on the board at 19:51. Matt Basgall sent a pinpoint stretch pass to Isaac Howard, who bore down on the PSU net. Sergeev made the save on the Spartans' leading scorer, but the rebound eventually found Dorwart on the right side, and he popped home his 10^th of the season to make it 3-2. With just eight seconds left in the game, MSU had few options for an equalizer.

PSUgoaltender Sergeev was the difference in the game, making 42 saves (19 in the third period). The Nittany Lions also blocked 18 Spartan attempts to frustrate the MSU offense. PSU was 1-for-5 on the power play, and finished the weekend 1-for-9. MSU was 0-for-4 on the man advantage.

Michigan State plays the final weekend of the regular season net week on the road at Notre Dame. Retiring Irish head coach Jeff Jackson (a Spartan alumnus) will be honored for his years of service not only to the Notre Dame, but also to college hockey in the Saturday contest.

Seniors

STATISTICS OF NOTE

The four Spartan seniors - grad student Nicklas Andrews, Tanner Kelly, David Gucciardi, and senior captain Red Savage were honored in a post-game ceremony.
MSU dropped its second home game in three tries after starting the season 12-1-1 at Munn. MSU is 0-2-1 in its last three home contests.
Penn State takes seven of 12 points from the MSU series this season, the only team to earn a win in itsseason series against the Spartans.
The Spartans allowed one power-play goal to the Nittany Lions in five chances against, going 8-of-9 on the kill over the weekend. MSU is 24-of-27 on the kill over the last eight contests.
MSU was 0-for-4 on the power play but had 10 shots on net in those man-advantage opportunities. PSU was 1-for-5 with six shots (one goal).
Karsen Dorwart had a goal and an assist to push his scoring line to 10-14-24, good for third on the team and making him one of the team's four double-digit goal scorers.
Trey Augustine made 21 saves, limiting the Nittany Lions to one goal (on the power play) on 19 shots in the final 58 minutes of the game.
Isaac Howard had a game-high seven shots on net and had an assist, his 23^rd of the season. It was his 45^th point of the year, tied for the national lead, and also shares the top spot in points per game (1.41). Howard now has 98 career points (36-61-97).
Tommi Männistö scored his career-best third goal of the season and the first shorthanded marker of his career. He is one point shy of his 10 points he had a year ago. His 12 blocks this season is also a career high.
Defensemen Matt Basgall and Nicklas Andrews had assists on the night. Andrews picked up his 14^th helper of the season tying his final-season total at Colorado College. He blocked three shots in the game. Basgall's assist was his 18^th and 23rd point of the year, ranking fourth on the team in points and second in assists. He is the third-highest scoring defenseman in the league (5-18-23), four points behind the leader.

PERIOD RECAPS

First Period:   The Nittany Lions scored a pair of goals in the opening 1:40 to stake a 2-0 lead, on goals by Charlie Cerrato and JJ Weibuisch. Cerrato finished off an odd-man rush to open the scoring, and a defensive-zone turnover led to the puck directly on the stick of Wiebusch on the right hash that he one--timed home for his sixth goal of the season. Both teams had a failed power play opportunity in the first half of the frame, and MSU had a slim 10-8 edge in shots on goal.

Second Period:   The Nittany Lions carried more than 90 seconds of man advantage time into the second frame, and Aiden Fink connected on the power play with 10 seconds remaining to bump the visitors' lead to 3-0. MSU got its second chance on the man advantage at 6:56, when the PSU captain Simon Mack tripped Gavin O'Connell. With just under six minutes remaining, Larson was sent off on a high sticking call, putting the visitors back on the man advantage for a fourth time. The Spartans had an odd-man rush at the end of the kill, but Sergeev turned that away to keep MSU off the board, and MSU trailed 3-0 after two periods despite holding a 25-19 advantage in shots on net.

Third Period:   MSU carried 45 seconds of power play time into the third period, and was given a second power play chance on a hooking call 2:46 into the period. Sergeev was dialed in and turned away each of the early five shots he faced as MSU hit the 30-shot mark. With 10:06 remaining, Daniel Russell was called for cross-checking, and 39 seconds later, David Gucciardi was whistled for hitting from behind.to create 1:21 of a Penn State five-on-three. The Spartans wore down the Russell call to cut it back down to 5x4, and were able to clear the zone – Andrews clearing attempt was tipped by a defenseman and flipped ahead into the neutral zone, where Karsen Dorwart chased it down. Tommi Männistö joined the rush into the offensive zone from the bench. Dorwart carried it up the right side as the speedy Männistö rushed into the low slot below the hash marks and one-timed his third goal of the season. MSU pulled Augustine with 3:08 on the clock in favor of an extra attacker, and MSU swarmed in the offensive zone. MSU got back on the board at 19:51with an extra attacker. Matt Basgall sent the stretch pass to Isaac Howard in the offensive blueline and the sharpshooter went in on Sergeev, who made the initial save. The rebound popped out into the slot and eventually made it to the right side, where Dorwart popped the puck over the glove hand of the netminder to make it 3-2.

Next Event

Team Stats

Karsen Dorwart

Tommi Männistö

Isaac Howard

Nicklas Andrews

Players Mentioned

Nicklas Andrews

Trey Augustine

Matt Basgall

Karsen Dorwart

David Gucciardi

Isaac Howard

Tanner Kelly

Gavin O'Connell

Red Savage