A
LLENTOWN, Pa. — When
Mackie
Samoskevich
ripped his patented wris-
ter into the back of the net 52
seconds into overtime, it was a
familiar sight.
The sophomore forward beat
an opposing goalie with his shot.
The No. 1 seed Michigan hockey
team pulled off overtime hero-
ics. Another dramatic comeback
victory. The Wolverines had seen
this all before.
But held scoreless for 52 min-
utes by No. 2 seed Penn State,
the highest scoring team in the
nation struggled to navigate the
unfamiliar territory of a low-
scoring game for the majority of
regulation. Thanks to familiar
scorers like freshman forward
Adam Fantilli and Samoskevich,
though, the Wolverines (26-11-3
overall) scraped by the Nittany
Lions (22-16-1), 2-1 in overtime,
to secure a spot in the Frozen
Four for the second year in a row.
“We said it right before our
first shift (of overtime) — ‘we’re
gonna win this game,’ ” sopho-
more forward Dylan Duke said.
“…We didn’t know it was gonna
come that shift but we knew it
was gonna come. We were due.”
Putting 41 shots on goal in
regulation but scoring just one,
Michigan let plenty of untapped
chances slip past it. The first line
produced at least one high-dan-
ger chance on nearly every single
shift in the first period, but Penn
State goaltender Liam Souliere
made save after acrobatic save to
turn them all away.
But when chance after chance
fell to the wayside, the Wolver-
ines lost any early momentum
they created. And entering the
second period, they looked dis-
jointed. Passes missed their tar-
gets, they continuously turned
the puck over and their early
chances gave way to Nittany
Lions ones instead.
With 1:28 left in the second
frame, freshman forward Jack-
son Hallum took a hooking penal-
ty, giving Penn State all the space
it needed to convert on one of
those chances. Forward Connor
MacEachern easily banged home
a rebound to an open net, sending
a PPL Center packed with Nit-
tany Lions fans into a frenzy.
And after 39 scoreless minutes,
with Penn State slowly but sure-
ly gaining control of the game,
Michigan needed to traverse
treacherous, low-scoring ground.
With their grasp of the game
slipping through their hands, the
Wolverines needed to mount a
response
“I just have two options,”
Michigan coach Brandon Naura-
to said. “I can be negative on the
bench, which will feed into the
players, or we can keep it positive
and stick to the plan. It’s an easy
answer.”
Backs against the wall, season
on the line in front of a hostile
crowd, the Wolverines had two
options — just like Naurato. They
could find a way to win a game
like they hadn’t won before, or go
home early.
As desperation set in, as the
Wolverines started diving for
every loose puck, as they opened
the ice up in an attempt to find
the net, they clearly wanted the
former. But for a while, Souliere
and the Nittany Lions remained
stalwart to prevent it.
With eight minutes left in the
game and hope draining away,
though, Fantilli gave Michigan’s
offense a lifeline — just like he’s
done all season long. In simi-
lar fashion to Penn State’s goal,
it took a penalty to create the
chance. And in similar fashion,
Fantilli finished off a goal-line
rebound to tie the game at one
apiece.
“We were drawing up set plays
for our powerplay, and me going
down there was something that
was big for us,” Fantilli said.
“… (Freshman forward Rutger
McGroarty) got a whack on it, I
got a whack on it, and it ended
up going in. Obviously, it’s a big
relief.”
Relieved of the pressure by
tying the game, the Wolverines
let their foot off the gas for a
moment. But even without that
pressure, they survived the last
eight minutes, moving into over-
time.
And sitting on the bench with
overtime looming, Samoskevich
called his shot.
“He looked at me and he said
it, right before he went out and
scored,” Duke said.
After 52 minutes to find the
first goal, it took Michigan just
52 seconds of overtime to find the
second. After 52 minutes of an
unfamiliar game, it took just 52
seconds to reach a familiar end.
Scoring fewer than two goals
in regulation for just the fourth
time this season and losing the
other three, it may not have
been the game the Wolverines
expected to play. But in the big-
gest moments, its expected con-
tributors delivered in the clutch
to keep them playing for it all.
And for that reason, they’ll
skate in back-to-back Frozen
Fours for the first time since
2003.
JEREMY WEINE/DAILY | DESIGN BY SOPHIE GRAND
Michigan scrapes by Penn State, 2-1 in
overtime, advances to Frozen Four
NOAH KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Editor
12 — Wednesday, March 29, 2023
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
“We said it right
before our first
shift (of overtime) —
‘we’re gonna win this
game,’ ” sophomore
forward Dylan Duke
said.