Penn State blanked by No. 8 Michigan State, 5-0
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The No. 20-ranked Penn State men’s hockey program was shut out, 5- 0, in its series opener against No. 8 Michigan State on Friday night.
The Nittany Lions move to 10-8-3 on the season and 2-6-3 in Big Ten play.
Augustine Continues to Shine
Fresh off a gold medal in Sweden, Spartan netminder Trey Augustine turned in a 31-save shutout in his first game stateside since the World Juniors tournament.
The Nittany Lions had many good opportunities turned aside by Augustine Friday night.
“He won gold for a reason. If he sees it he’s going to save it.” Said senior forward Christian Sarlo on Augustine’s performance in the series opener.
Sarlo went on to say that to get pucks by him in the series finale, they need to get more bodies in front of the net to try and get Augustine’s eyes off the puck.
Souliere Shows Signs of His Form From Last Season
Senior goalie Liam Souliere has struggled this season, going from the clear number one goalie to being platooned with sophomore Noah Grannan for most of this season.
Head coach Guy Gadowsky said that he would stick with one goaltender once one netminder earned the right to be the starter.
Despite the 5-0 score, Souliere played one of his better, if not his best game of the season.
Souliere flashed the level of play he was at last season, making acrobatic saves that could’ve been easy scores for the opposition.
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Gadowsky said that this game does not fall on Souliere, as he should not have been put in some of the situations he was in Friday night, but when asked if he saw enough out of the senior to start him tomorrow night, Gadowsky said he had not yet made up his mind and wants to talk with the goaltending coaches before making that decision.
Improving for Game Two
There was not too much positive for the Nittany Lions to build off of in Friday night’s contest.
Gadowsky said that they need to get better at playing their brand of hockey, citing the Spartans effort Friday as motivation.
“They took a page out of our book, and it was very effective,” Gadowsky said.
Gadowsky also mentioned that the team needs to put more emphasis on defense when on the man-advantage. Penn State has allowed a short-handed goal in their last two games.
What’s next for Penn State
The Nittany Lions will take on the Spartans in the series finale on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena.
