ROSEMONT, Ill. – Junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) was named Big Ten Hockey's Second Star of the Week following his first career hat-trick and a career-best four-point effort in a come-from-behind victory over Army West Point on Saturday as announced by the conference office on Wednesday morning.
This marks the fourth career weekly accolade for Kirwan and his second this season, he was named Third Star of the Week back in October.
Kirwan ignited Penn State's largest comeback in program history scoring a natural hat-trick in less than five minutes of game action between the second and third periods as the Nittany Lions used five-unanswered goals to erase a 6-2 deficit and beat Army 7-6.
It was the first hat-trick of Kirwan's career and the 13th in program history while he joins freshman Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) and graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot (South Windsor, Conn.) as the third Nittany Lion to register a hat-trick this season.
For Kirwan it marked his third multi-goal game of the season and the sixth of his career while also marking his sixth multi-point effort of the season and the 15th of his career. His 12 goals are now just one shy of his career-best 13 scored during his freshman campaign in 2021-22 and are good for third in the Big Ten and tied for 12th nationally while his 21 points are good for seventh in the conference.
Penn State is 24-2-0 all-time when Kirwan scores a goal including a 15-0-0 mark over the past two seasons with an 8-0-0 record so far this year in such games.
Penn State resumes Big Ten play on Friday and Saturday as the Nittany Lions host No. 8 Michigan State in Hockey Valley. SRO tickets and verified resale tickets for both games can be purchased HERE.
For more information on the 2023-24 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the 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.
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