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.

