ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Freshman Jackson Smith tallied two goals, including the late third-period goal that tied the game, as No. 6 Penn State and No. 2 Michigan played to a 4–4 draw Friday night at Yost Ice Arena in Big Ten Conference action.
Both teams came out strong, exchanging goals early as each scored twice in the first period. Penn State struck first when Reese Laubach scored less than a minute into the game to give the Nittany Lions the lead. Garrett Schifsky responded for Michigan to even the score. Jackson Smith put Penn State back on top before T.J. Hughes tallied for the Wolverines, sending the game into the second period tied 2–2.
Both teams found the net again in the second period. Penn State got on the board first about halfway through when Nicholas Chin-Degraves scored, but just three minutes later, Asher Barnett evened it up for Michigan, sending the game into the third period tied once again.
T.J. Hughes opened the third period with a goal to give Michigan the lead, but Jackson Smith responded to tie it for Penn State, sending the game into overtime. The contest remained deadlocked, and Michigan ultimately prevailed in the shootout, 1–0.
The teams met again on Saturday evening, with Penn State falling 6–3 despite a strong effort from Reese Laubach, who added two more goals for the Nittany Lions.
Michigan came out strong and quickly built a 2–0 lead after Cole McKinney and Ben Robertson each found the goal. Reese Laubach then cut that lead in half for Penn State, scoring just before the end of the first period to keep the Nittany Lions within striking distance.
The Wolverines capitalized on a pair of power plays, with Jayden Perron and Will Horcoff scoring to extend their lead to 4–1. Adam Valentini added another goal, creating a deficit that proved too large for Penn State to overcome. The Nittany Lions made a brief push with goals from Reese Laubach and Gavin McKenna, but Michigan sealed the game by scoring into an empty net, giving the Wolverines a 6–3 victory.
Penn State returns home to Pegula Ice Arena for a weekend series against Ohio State Buckeyes, with games scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, both broadcast on the BIG Network.
