Penn State’s season came to an end Saturday night in Minneapolis, as the Nittany Lions fell in a close battle to No. 2 Minnesota 3-2 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Minnesota entered Saturday night’s contest as the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament after winning the regular season conference title. The Gophers also boast the No. 2 ranking country in the nation according to the USCHO.com poll and are a lock for No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Facing a balanced Gopher team, Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky gave sophomore Liam Souliere the nod for his sixth-consecutive game in goal after backstopping the Nittany Lions a first round best-of-three series win over Ohio State last weekend.
The Nittany Lions managed a solid start to the game on both ends of the ice but Minnesota struck first as forward Ben Meyers scored off a deflection just past the midway point of the first period. The Gophers took a 1-0 lead in the break but only led the shots on goal mark 13-12 as Penn State did its part to hold steady with their hosts.
Starting the second period on the power play thanks to a holding call in the final seconds of the first period, it only took 27 seconds for the Minnesota to find the back of the net, putting the Gophers ahead 2-0.
For a team that Gadowsky has been critical of at times regarding its mental toughness, the Nittany Lions certainty didn’t fold after going down 2-0, scoring twice in the middle frame to tie the game heading into the third and final period. While Penn State didn’t lead on the scoreboard, the Nittany Lions did hold a shots on goal advantage 25-21 after 40 minutes of play and looked to finish off the upset bid in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
As one might expect, both teams managed the third period with a tentative touch, neither looking to give up a golden opportunity that could spell the end of their season. Penn State forward Kevin Wall would miss a great chance in front of goal with the game still tied at 2-2, a chance that turned out to be the Nittany Lions’ best of the period. That moment of “what if” only lingered longer in the back of Penn State’s collective mind as Minnesota took a 3-2 lead with just over two minutes to go in regulation as Sammy Walker found the back of the net, crushing Penn State’s championship dreams. The Nittany Lions would immediately pull Souliere in favor of an extra attacker but failed to find the tying goal in the game’s dying moments.
For Penn State a loss marks the end of a bittersweet two weeks in which the Nittany Lions showed the kind of team they’ve grown into but couldn’t quite be over much of the regular season. A fairly young group, Penn State will head into the offseason happy with how it played late in the year, albeit with plenty to prove when the puck drops again, looking to turn potential into reality.
