ALLENTOWN, Pa. — It will be a de facto home game again for Penn State come Sunday evening.
The 10th-ranked Nittany Lions topped No. 13 Michigan Tech, 8-0, in the first NCAA Regional semifinal Friday at the PPL Center, before a largely pro-Penn State crowd. A three-goal second period broke open a one-goal game in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, and a four-goal third propelled Penn State to a regional final for the first time in six seasons.
“Congratulations to Penn State,” said Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan. “They played a tremendous game — strong, fast, hard on the puck. All year long we had to overcome adversity, but we had some trouble tonight, and hopefully we can learn from that.”
Tyler Paquette got things started for the home side just 2:12 into the contest when he skated down the right side, curled around the net, and tucked the puck past Michigan Tech netminder and CCHA Player of the Year Blake Pietila at the near post. Paquette then nearly put the Nittany Lions up by two less than six minutes later when he came down the left wing on a two-on-one, only to see his wrister glance off the crossbar and out of play.
After Penn State killed off a hooking penalty to Tyler Gratton midway through the first on the only power play of the contest, Michigan Tech got a few chances in close, the biggest a late-forming breakaway by Kyle Kukkonen after he slipped away to go one-on-one with Penn State netminder Liam Souliere. Kukkonen then tried to go upstairs on the glove side, but Souliere reached out to snag the puck and hold it for a faceoff.
“We had a couple of stretches that were pretty poor,” said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky. “Soulie’s timing was great, and you have to give him a ton of credit.”
The Nittany Lions made it a 2-0 game four-and-half minutes into the second stanza, after defenseman Carter Schade weaved his way into the Michigan Tech zone on the left side. Schade then cut across the slot and left the puck for Jarod Crespo, who whipped home a shot high on the glove side.
Logan Pietila tried to bring the Huskies back within a goal two minutes later, but his point-blank deflection was stopped by Souliere.
“I was trying to have fun out there,” said Souliere. “It felt like a home game. We wanted to win, and I think that showed tonight.”
Arvid Caderoth then skated in several minutes later for a pair of stuff-in attempts in the crease, but was denied both times by Souliere.
“We had some good chances, but we couldn’t score,” said Caderoth. “Getting opportunities was our goal, and taking the puck to the net — but he’s a good goalie, and it was hard for us.”
Journeyman forward Ashton Calder, who previously skated for both Lake Superior State and North Dakota, got loose down the right wing and then cut across the crease to backhand the puck past Pietila’s right pad at 14:46 to make it 3-0. Assisting on the goal was fellow transfer Ture Linden, a Rensselaer transplant.
“It feels good, especially with this group,” said Calder, the only player on the Penn State roster with previous NCAA tournament experience.
Christian Berger then broke in alone with Ryan Kirwan after Penn State kept the puck in at the blueline. Berger took Kirwan’s feed from the right wing, and beat Pietila on the stick side with 1:15 left before intermission to make it 4-0.
“We didn’t pick up well on the rush,” said Shawhan, “and we didn’t box out in front.”
Nittany Lions’ top goal scorer Kevin Wall made it 5-0 three minutes into the third period when he corralled the puck in front, turned, and backhanded it past Pietila for his 17th of the year. Chase McLane put Penn State up by a half-dozen after he poked the puck into the right corner of the Michigan Tech zone, then fired a shot over the back of a crouching Pietila and in at 7:31.
Nine seconds after Christian Sarlo and Logan Pietila were both sent off for roughing, Connor MacEachern fed Connor McMenamin in front to make it 7-0 with 5:40 left, and then Kirwan connected from the right side 33 seconds later to complete the scoring.
“It was awesome,” said Kirwan. “”The fans were super-supportive, and we fed on that.”
Penn State, which is now 11-0-0 against non-Big Ten opponents this year, improved to 22-15-1 overall after outshooting the Huskies by a 39-24 margin. Michigan Tech, which finished 24-11-4, suffered its second straight shutout to end its 2022-23 campaign.
Penn State will now face the winner of tonight’s second Allentown semifinal between Big Ten champion Michigan and ECAC Hockey champion Colgate in the regional final Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
“We have to turn the page pretty quickly,” said Gadowsky.
