UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Looking for a return trip to Allentown and the NCAA Tournament in 2020, head coach Guy Gadowsky and the Penn State men's ice hockey team announced its full 2019-20 schedule earlier Wednesday morning. The schedule is highlighted by 19 home contests.
Coming off its second highest win total in program history with a 22-15-2 record last season, Penn State has high expectations for 2019-20. The Nittany Lions return 11 of their top-13 scorers from last season including each of the top-5 along with 82 percent of its entire scoring from 2018-19.
Penn State once again opens the season with the fifth installment of the International Game when Ottawa makes a return trip to Pegula Ice Arena for the second time in the past three seasons during Homecoming Weekend on Sunday, October 6.
Following the annual exhibition game, Penn State will play nine-straight games inside the friendly confines of Pegula Ice Arena beginning the regular season slate with a pair of games against Sacred Heart on October 11-12 as the Pioneers return to Hockey Valley for the first time in four seasons.
Alaska-Fairbanks then makes its first trip to Pegula the following weekend marking just the second and third meetings all-time between the two schools on October 17-18. The Nanooks won the only other meeting back in October of 2014, 4-3, during the Brice Alaska Goal Rush.
The following Friday sees Robert Morris travel east for a single contest before Penn State opens Big Ten play with a rematch of the 2019 B1G Tournament quarterfinals against Wisconsin on October 31 and November 1. This marks the first time the Nittany Lions and Badgers have opened conference play against each other since the inaugural Big Ten season in 2013-14.
PSU closes its season-long homestand with a pair of games against Michigan State on November 8-9 before its first road trip of the season to Minnesota the following weekend. Penn State then hosts Ohio State on November 22-23 prior to a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Massachusetts to battle a pair of Hockey East foes. The Nittany Lions first visit Andover, Massachusetts for their first-ever meeting with Merrimack on November 29 before making the short trip down I-495 for a Saturday evening contest against UMass-Lowell.
Penn State wraps up the first semester of play with back-to-back trips to Michigan (Dec. 6-7) and Notre Dame (Dec. 13-14). The Nittany Lions return to action sooner than years past following the holiday break with a non-conference series on January 3-4 against Niagara at Pegula Ice Arena. PSU then concludes non-conference play for the season when they finish the series with Bobby Mo at PPG Paints Arena on January 11.
The Nittany Lions resume Big Ten play when they host Michigan on January 17-18 before a trip to Michigan State the following weekend. Penn State then closes January and opens February at home against Notre Dame on the 31st and 1st.
PSU plays its last and final stretch of back-to-back road weekends with trips to Ohio State (February 7-8) and Wisconsin (February 14-15) before wrapping up the regular season in Hockey Valley against Minnesota on February 21-22.
Penn State drew its bye-week during the final week of the regular season with the Big Ten Tournament set to run from March 6 through March 21 with each series/game taking place at the higher seeded campus site. The NCAA Regionals will be held at neutral sites on March 27-29 and the Frozen Four on April 9-11 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
All dates are subject to change with game times and TV schedule to come. Season ticket renewals for the 2019-20 season are currently underway and run until June 25th. For more information click HERE. Single-game ticket information will be announced at a later date.