ROSEMONT, Ill. – Sophomore Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa) was named the Big Ten Third Star of the Week on Tuesday morning for his performance during a 5-4 victory over Wisconsin last Friday.
McMenamin had a hand in each goal during the victory over the 12th-ranked Badgers assisting on the first four, two primary and two secondary, before hitting the empty-net for what proved to be the game-winning goal late in the third period.
This marks the first career weekly award for McMenamin as he becomes the fourth Nittany Lion to be honored so far this season joining senior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) who received Second Star recognition on December 15, 2020 as well as junior Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) and sophomore Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) who each earned Third Star of the Week laurels just one week apart on January 6 and January 13, respectively.
The sophomore's five-point outburst marked a career-best and tied three separate Penn State single-game records including most points joining Andrew Sturtz '20 as the only other Nittany Lion to hit that mark. Sturtz also had five points in a single-game against Mercyhurst in 2017.
McMenamin's three first period assists tie the single-period mark for most assists while his four total assists tie the single-game standard, both records are shared by multiple Nittany Lions and were last accomplished by Limoges during a game at Wisconsin in 2018.
McMenamin's five points over the weekend were tied for fourth in the Big Ten as he nearly doubled his season output. He now has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 16 games, good for fifth on the team.
