MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions dropped a heartbreaker in game two of a Big Ten Quarterfinal best-of-three series, 3-2, to No. 3 Minnesota at 3M Arena on Saturday evening.
The loss ends the season for Penn State as the Nittany Lions finish the year 15-18-3 while the Gophers improve to 22-9-5 following the victory and advance to next week's Big Ten semifinals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Minnesota opened the scoring early in the first period as Jaxson Nelson crossed the blue-line and fired a shot that fooled Nittany Lion senior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) over the blocker for the 1-0 lead at the 1:38 mark.
- The Gophers extended the lead with a powerplay tally as Nelson beat Souliere with a one-timer from the left dot for the 2-0 lead at 13:10 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions cut the deficit in half midway through the second period as senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) deposited a rebound after graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot's (South Windsor, Conn.) initial bid was turned aside at the 8:59 mark.
- Penn State evened the game with a goal off the rush as the kids connected with freshman Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) finding classmate Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) and he picked the corner over the blocker of Gopher goaltender Justen Close for the 2-2 score at the 12:53 mark.
- Junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
- Aaron Huglen then scored with just 68 ticks remaining to give the Gophers the 3-2 lead.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere falls to 12-14-1 after making 21 saves in the defeat while Close moves to 21-8-5 after stopping 46-of-48 shots he faced in the game.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 48-24 edge in shots on goal, including the 35-7 edge over the final two periods. Penn State was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage while Minnesota went 1-for-4.
- The Gophers even the all-time playoff record against Penn State at 3-3 and have won the last three-straight after the Nittany Lions won the previous three.
- The Nittany Lions drop to 14-13-0 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and are now just 4-8 in true road games during Big Ten Tournament play.
- Dzhaniyev extended his point streak to five games, tying his career-high, with a secondary assist on Dowd's goal.
- With his second period goal, Dowd Jr. moves past Kris Myllari '20 and into second on the Penn State all-time points list for defensemen with 63 to his credit while his 11 goals are the sixth-most all-time by a Penn State blueliner as he moves past Paul DeNaples '23 and Clayton Phillips '22.
- Fink's 34 points this season are the third-most all-time by a Nittany Lion freshman and are just two shy of Nate Sucese '20 for second. DiMarsico's 26 points are now tied for the sixth-most by a Penn State rookie.
- The goal for DiMarsico snaps an 11-game goalless drought dating back to January 20 at Notre Dame, an own goal by the Irish he was credited with. Going back even further it is his first true goal since November 25 against Lindenwood.
- Junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) skated in the 100th game of his career on Saturday afternoon.
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.