The Wolverines ended the year with a 3-10 record (and an 0-fer in the Big Ten) by taking an L in State College.
Tempo Free
From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:
| Penn State 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | Penn State | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 19 | Faceoff Wins | 7 |
| Clearing | 13-17 | Clearing | 19-20 |
| Possessions | 37 | Possessions | 31 |
| Goals | 9 | Goals | 14 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .243 | Offensive Efficiency | .452 |
Michigan had a healthy advantage in possession, but once again, an inability to stop basically anything on the defensive end cost them the game. Penn State was super-efficient, and Michigan wasn’t bad, but certainly not good, either.
Notes
Brad Lott did serious work at the faceoff dot, and if his team had just done a solid (not even great) job around him, he would have been the key catalyst to a victory here. He won .731 of the faceoffs, and picked up five ground balls himself. Penn State was a (very) bad faceoff team this year, but you can only play the opponent you play, right?
Michigan’s offensive efficiency mark wasn’t great by any stretch, but it wasn’t horrible, either. However, I think it’s fair (to an extent) to say that they cost Michigan this game as much as the defense – which was indeed horrible. The Wolverines turned the ball over 19 times (with nine forced by the Nittany Lions), put only 21 of 45 shots on the cage, and were unable to solve Penn State’s Will Schreiner – who, like Penn State’s faceoff specialists, was one of the worst in the nation this year (with serious issues at both of those spots, it’s a wonder Penn State actually managed to be as good as they were this season).
Peter Kraus (2G, 1A), Kyle Jackson (1G, 1A), and Sean McCanna (2G) were Michigan’s offensive standouts, though they were also culprits in the turnover game with Kraus committing four, and the other two a pair each.
Sticking in the offensive end (but switching to defensive personnel), senior LSM Chase Brown made his final game in the Maize and Blue a memorable one, with two goals of his own. He also picked up five GBs, for one of the more productive statistical days on defense.
The rest of the defense… not so much. Gerald Logan had a decent day against a good offensive team, stopping 12 shots while allowing 14 goals, but it was a parade to the net for the Nittany Lions (RIGHT DOWN :frantically googles “famous street State College PA”:), with 38 total shots, those 26 on net, and nine assists on their 14 goals. All three starting attackmen notched five points in varying distributions. The Nittany Lions went 3/3 on EMO opportunities, though Michigan did go 2/2 themselves and scored a shorthanded goal.
The freshmen who start on D for Michigan were culprits in the turnover game (MJ Melillo committed two, one resulting in a failed clear, and Nick DeCaprio one – though he made up for it with two caused turnovers).
Elsewhere
Boxscore. Michigan recap. Penn State recap. Re-watch on BTN2Go.
Up Next
This was the last one. Some post-season content and analysis coming next week.