“Good win, mission accomplished,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “We came into the weekend with our goal of trying to get two wins. We knew it’d be very difficult because that team competes really hard. We knew the games would be close and fortunately the script went the way we hoped it would.”

Anastos added that the six points earned in the two games are huge for keeping MSU in the thick of the Big Ten race.

MSU didn’t take long to find the back of the net, taking an early 1-0 lead only 1:33 into the game. Sophomore forward Michael Ferrantino scored the Spartan goal after freshman forward Joe Cox cycled the puck down low to junior forward Matt Berry who hit Ferrantino in the slot.

With the assist, Berry has seven points in the last six games.

The game would head into the first intermission tied after Penn State (4-14-1, 0-6-0 Big Ten) junior forward Taylor Holstrom scored off a loose puck in front of the net with only 27.3 seconds left in the period. Nittany Lion sophomore defenseman Luke Juha and sophomore forward Casey Bailey had assists on the play.

After dominating the first period in nearly every aspect of the game, but heading into the dressing room tied, Reimer said

“That’s just how it goes sometimes, you just got to come back into the dressing room and focus up and be ready,” Reimer said. “We were taking maybe some undisciplined penalties and we were penalty killing a lot more than we feel comfortable with, so the rest of the game we were just trying to keep it five-on-five because I felt like we were playing well.”

MSU would regain the lead at the 7:06 mark of the second period when junior forward Tanner Sorenson slapped one into the net.

Senior forward Greg Wolfe came from behind the net and found a wide open Sorenson close to the left goal post, one-timing the pass past Penn State freshman goaltender Eamon McAdam.

Senior defenseman Jake Chelios also had an assist on the play.

The goal was the first for Sorenson on the season, after scoring 13 last season.

“It’s been awhile so it’s nice to score, it’s nice to win too. That was a tough fought game,” Sorenson said.

Penn State wouldn’t go away easy, scoring only 1:18 into the third period. Sophomore forward Eric Scheid scored the Nittany Lion power play goal, wristing a shot past Spartan sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand from just below the right faceoff circle.

The goal was assisted by Juha and freshman forward Zach Saar.

However the game wouldn’t remained tied for long, with senior forward Lee Reimer one timing a pass from junior forward RJ Boyd into the vacant net, taking a 3-2 lead.

Boyd threw the puck from the side boards above the circle with Reimer slapping into into the empty net. The goal came only 2:33 after Penn State tied the game.

Senior forward Dean Chelios also had an assist on the play, giving him a fourth point on the weekend.

The goal was Reimer’s second of the series, and fourth of the season.

Late in the third period, freshman forward Villiam Haag was viciously checked from behind into the boards in the offensive zone corner.

The hit earned Penn State sophomore defenseman Mark Yanis a five minute major for hitting from behind.

Haag was down briefly, but eventually left the ice with the help of the trainer.

Anastos considered the play scary, but luckily Haag returned to the bench and was able to go in the final minutes if Anastos needed him.

MSU returns to action on Thursday against rival No. 13 Michigan (10-6-2, 2-2-0 Big Ten) at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Although the team will celebrate the win, Reimer said the match-up with the hated rivals next week is already something on his mind.

“You’re always thinking about it,” Reimer said of the rivalry with U-M. “It’s going to be big games, we’re playing at the Joe and stuff. It’s our biggest rival so we are going to be getting ready right away.”