UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 19 Penn State Nittany Lions resume play with a single non-conference game against Army West Point on Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Saturday, January 6
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 6 p.m.
Tickets: Saturday
Streaming Video: Saturday
Listen: Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This week marks the fourth meeting of the current era between Penn State and Army with the Nittany Lions having won the previous three contests, including the first-ever game at Pegula Ice Arena on October 11, 2013. Saturday's contest marks the first time the Black Knights will be back in Hockey Valley in over 10 years as the other two meetings were both in West Point.
- The last meeting between the two teams was two years ago on New Year's Day 2022, a 5-3 win for the Nittany Lions. It was the first game in the career of junior Dylan Lugris after he joined the team at the mid-point of the season and he wasted little time getting acclimated scoring his first career goal in the second period.
- Penn State is 48-16-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey opponents and that includes a series split against AIC back in October. The loss in the series finale against the Yellow Jackets snapped a streak of 21-straight non-conference victories for the Nittany Lions who are 7-2-0 this season in non-conference play.
- The AIC loss was also just the second in the last 25 matchups against Atlantic Hockey foes.
- Penn State plays its first game in 27 days on Saturday and is 8-3-0 all-time in its first game back after winter break including winners of six-straight. The last loss for the Nittany Lions in their unofficial second half opener was a 3-0 decision at Ohio State on January 6, 2017. Saturday is the first time since the 2019-20 season that Penn State has opened the second half of play at Pegula Ice Arena and fifth overall, the Nittany Lions are 2-2-0 in the previous four.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
- Saturday's contest will mark a Gadowsky Family Reunion as head coach Guy Gadowsky's eldest son, Mac, is a freshman defenseman at Army.
- After an eligibility issue kept him out of the lineup for the first seven games of the season, Mac has played the last 11-straight games for the Black Knights and sits just one point shy of the team lead with 12 points on one goal and a team-high 11 assists. He is also yet to take a penalty and leads the team with a 1.09 points per game average. Over his last six games, Gadowsky has one goal and 10 assists for 11 points and has registered four multi-point games including a career-best four points in a win over Mercyhurst on December 8. Army is 4-1-0 in games where Gadowsky registers a point.
- Gadowsky was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Month for December registering multiple points in all three games with one goal and seven assists for eight points and a plus-4 rating.
SCOUTING ARMY
- Army enters the weekend coming off a 5-2 loss to Bentley on Tuesday and are 5-13-0 overall. The Black Knights opened the season on a nine-game losing streak and are currently 5-4-0 in their last nine games including a 6-3 victory over No. 16 UNH last weekend, their first win over a ranked team in six years.
- The Black Knights are currently last in Atlantic Hockey at just 3-9-0 overall after finishing fifth in the conference last season with a 12-12-2 league mark.
- Army is paced by Joey Baez on offense with seven goals and 13 points a year after slotting home 21 goals with seven assists for 28 points. Max Itagaki is tied with Baez for the team-lead in points with 13 after pacing the Black Knights with 33 points last season. Brent Keefer leads the team with eight goals while Ricky Lyle has added six.
- Junior Evan Szary has taken over between the pipes starting 12 of the 18 games so far this season posting a 4-6-0 record with a .902 save percentage and a 3.22 goals-against average, however, Gavin Abric has started the last two games including the win over No. 16 UNH last weekend. Abric has six starts this season with a 1-7-0 record to go along with a 5.70 goals-against average and a save percentage of just .834.
- Army is averaging just 2.5 goals per game to rank tied for 48th nationally while allowing 4.3 goals per game, the fourth-most in the nation.
- The Black Knights have had more success on the road with a 3-8-0 record compared to a 2-5-0 home record.
PHENOMENAL FINK
- Freshman Aiden Fink had a scorching start to his career in Hockey Valley as he currently leads the team with nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points through the opening 19 games.
- His 23 points are already the ninth-most by a Penn State freshman all-time while his nine goals are the 10th best by a Nittany Lion rookie. His 14 assists are tied for the sixth-most by a Nittany Lion rookie.
- Fink is averaging 1.21 points per game entering the second half of the season, the same PPG average Denis Smirnov '20 registered during his record-setting 47-point freshman campaign in 2016-17. That mark is currently tied for the third best single-season PPG average and the top-rookie spot.
- Against Michigan in November, Fink registered the 11th hat-trick in program history, however, it was just the second all-time on the road and just the fourth against a Big Ten opponent.
- Fink's 23 points lead all Big Ten freshmen and are tied for fourth in the nation among rookies while his nine goals also lead freshmen in the conference and are tied for eighth nationally.
YOU FOUGHT THE LAW-BACH AND THE LAW-BACH WON
- Freshman Reese Laubach enters the second semester of action riding a career-best three-game point streak.
- Laubach is currently seventh on the team in scoring with 11 points on five goals and six assists, however, he has registered at least one point in six of his last seven games with three goals and four assists for seven points during that stretch.
GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD
- Penn State has opened the scoring in five of the last six games after going six-straight without the opening goal. Penn State is 7-3-0 in such games this season after going 17-7-1 when scoring first last season.
- Penn State is unbeaten this season when leading after two periods with a 7-0-1 record in such games.
JACQUES JAMS
- Graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot has registered at least one point in nine of his last 11 games.
- Bouquot's eight goals and 18 points this season are both already career-highs.
NEXT UP
- Penn State resumes Big Ten play as the eighth-ranked Michigan State Spartans visit Hockey Valley for a weekend series on January 12-13.
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.