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The No. 2 Michigan State hockey program began its biggest series of the season on Friday night, facing No. 5 Penn State on the road in a hostile Pegula Ice Arena ahead of tomorrow's outdoor game at Beaver Stadium.
MSU took some air out of the building with an early goal, and by the end of the first period, the life had left the building with the Spartans leading 3-0. But,the Nittany Lions mounted a comeback, eventually cutting MSU's lead to just one with 11 minutes remaining.
With the PSU goaltender pulled, the Spartans were able to score twice into the empty net to secure a series-opening road win, 6-3.
Freshman forward Anthony Romani started the scoring with a breakaway goal just over four minutes into the game. MSU goaltender Trey Augustine made a big save and a long rebound bounced back into play. Defenseman Maxim Strbak gathered the puck and found a streaking Romani alone up the ice.
Sophomore defenseman Owen West would score his second of the season later in the first period while on the power play, firing a shot from the point through traffic and past PSU goaltender Joshua Fleming.
Romani would add a power play goal late in the first, set up by freshman forward Cayden Lindstrom.
Early in the second period, a high hit by Lindstrom on PSU forward Aiden Fink led to a large skirmish in front of the PSU bench. In the end, Lindstrom was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for contact to the head. MSU defenseman Colin Ralph and PSU freshman phenom Gavin McKenna were both assessed major penalties and game misconducts in the aftermath.
PSU defenseman Jackson Smith got the Nittany Lions on the board later in the period, but MSU's Porter Martone responded shortly after, poking a rebound in front of Fleming over the goal line to restore the Spartans' three-goal lead, 4-1.
PSU would get two goals in the third period to put the pressure on the Spartans with still more than 10 minutes to play.
But MSU was able to withstand the comeback as Romani completed a hat trick on an empty-net goal with two minutes remaining. PSU would pull the goalie again, and senior forward Daniel Russell found the empty net to make it a 6-3 final.
Augustine made 33 saves for the Spartans and recorded his first assist of the season on Romani's opening goal. Fleming stopping 30 shots for the Nittany Lions.
The two teams play again at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon in an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at [email protected] and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Anthony Romani hat trick leads MSU hockey past Penn State, 6-3
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