Sluggish start leads to sixth straight winless contest for Nittany Lions

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Close, but never close enough.

That was the storyline on Friday night as No. 18 Penn State fell to No. 12 Michigan at Yost Arena, marking the 15th time the Nittany Lions have lost on the road to the Wolverines.

In a scenario Guy Gadowsky’s squad has seen all too often this season, the blue and white found themselves down in a hole early, as Phillip Lapointe found twine just over two minutes into the game.

The Nittany Lions continued to look sluggish as the first period, being outshot 12-0 through the first half of the frame, leading to another goal off of a penalty shot from Gavin Brindley to double the Wolverine’s lead.

That penalty shot was the first one allowed against Penn State since Cody Wydo for Robert Morris in 2013, snapping a decade-long streak.

Another storyline that has progressed through the season shined yet again late in the first period, as the “Kid Line” broke through with a perfect set-up from Aiden Fink to Matt DiMarsico with under four minutes left in the opening frame.

That tally was DiMarsico’s third of the season and Fink’s team-leading seventh assist of the season.

Michigan would regain its two-goal lead early in the second period off a goal from Frank Nazar III and extend it to three with a tally from Jacob Truscott.

Yet once again the blue and white would claw their way back into the contest, thanks to a first career collegiate goal from Dane Dowiak and a power-play marker from Jacques Bouquot.

The high-powered offense of the maize and blue flashed nearly immediately after, with a Dylan Duke wrap-around goal as the middle frame wound down.

Penn State continued to try and fight in the final frame, finding the back of the net with the goalie pulled off of an Aiden Fink goal, but couldn’t find the equalizer, ultimately falling 5-3 to the Wolverines.

In yet another closely contested game, the blue and white fell behind the eight ball and fell just short in the end, extending their winless streak to a staggering six games.

Despite Liam Souliere potentially having the chip on his shoulder after last year’s Allentown Regional Final exit, Noah Grannan was given the nod in net for the blue and white, stopping a career-high 38 shots.

As has been the case in seemingly every conference game so far this season for Gadowsky’s squad, the team does just enough to claw back from a major deficit, before ultimately running out of gas in the final frame.

If the Nittany Lions want to not only compete against Michigan, but finally put a win in the books on Big Ten play this season, scoring the all-important first goal becomes so much more crucial.

Penn State has opened the scoring in just five of its 12 contests this season and is yet to find that first tally in conference play.

Having the ability to play from behind is always a crucial component of a competitive team, but it cannot be the only component a team has in its arsenal.

The blue and white look to hit the Thanksgiving break on a positive note, going for the split on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Yost Arena.

Joshua Bartosik is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.