UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 7 Minnesota used four unanswered goals to defeat No. 18 Penn State, 4-1, in Big Ten conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State falls to 8-5-3 overall and 1-3-3-0-0-2 in conference play with the loss while the Gophers improve to 8-4-3 on the year and 4-3-2-1-0-0 in Big Ten action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions opened the scoring as freshman Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone and graduate transfer Tanner Palocsik (Aliquippa, Pa.) collected it and scampered up the near side before feathering a pass out front where freshman Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) redirected it over the glove of Gopher goaltender Justen Close for the 1-0 edge at 5:30 of the first period.
- Minnesota evened the game on its first shot of the opening frame as Sam Rinzel finished a feed from Rhett Pitlick during an odd-man rush for the 1-1 score at the 16:35 mark.
- The Gophers then took the lead late in the first frame benefiting from another odd-man rush as Bryce Brodzinski finished past the glove of senior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 2-1 edge at the 18:07 mark.
- Minnesota extended the lead to 3-1 midway through the second period as Connor Kurth finished off a rebound after Oliver Moore's initial bid was turned aside at the 9:06 mark.
- The visitors took advantage of a powerplay to push the margin further as Rhett Pitlick batted a Jimmy Snuggerud pass out of mid-air at the far post for the 4-1 score at 11:42 of the middle stanza.
GOALTENDING
Souliere drops to 6-3-1 on the year after making 17 saves in the setback while Close moves to 8-4-3 after stopping 33-of-34 shots in the game.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 34-21 edge in shots on goal while going 0-for-2 on the powerplay. Minnesota was 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
- With his secondary assist on Dowiak's first period goal, DiMarsico extends his career-long point streak to five games.
- Penn State scored the opening goal for the first time in Big Ten play this season, but now stand at 6-2-0 when scoring the opening goal of a game this season.
- Dowiak has now scored a goal in each of the past three series openers.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Hockey Valley tomorrow evening to conclude the weekend series with a 6 p.m. puck drop. The game will be broadcast live throughout the country on the B1G Network.
For more information on the 2023-24 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.