Penn State at No. 8 Quinnipiac
2-0-0 | 0-0-0 B1G
0-0-0 | 0-0-0 ECAC
HAMDEN, Conn. – The Penn State Nittany Lions will conclude their three-game road swing with a single contest on Saturday night at M&T Bank Arena against 2023 National Champion Quinnipiac marking the first-ever meeting between the Nittany Lions and Bobcats and Penn State’s first visit to the state of Connecticut in 10 years.
Follow the Action
Former Nittany Lion Alternate Captain Ricky DeRosa '17 will join Eric Ohlson on the radio call making his broadcast debut on Saturday night!
Dates: Saturday, October 12
Place: Hamden, Connecticut
Time: 7 p.m.
Series Breakdown
THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the first-ever matchup between Penn State and Quinnipiac as the Nittany Lions make their first trip to the state of Connecticut since their inaugural season in 2012-13 when they played three games in the Constitution State, one against Sacred Heart, a 6-3 win on October 27, 2012 and two against UConn where they were swept, 4-3 and 4-1 on January 4-5, 2013. Penn State is just 1-2-0 all-time in games played in Connecticut.
- One Nittany Lion does have experience against the Bobcats as junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev had a 26-save effort between the pipes during a 4-3 loss as a freshman while playing for UConn during Qunnipiac’s National Championship season in 2022-23.
- This weekend pits two of college hockey’s winningest coaches against one another as Rand Pecknold and Guy Gadowsky square off. Pecknold has the second-most wins for active head coaches with 567, behind only Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson (589). Pecknold ranks 11th all-time while Gadowsky sits 12th among active coaches and 35th all-time with 384 victories under his belt.
- This weekend marks the first game of the season for Quinnipiac after playing an exhibition last Sunday against Northeastern, a 4-2 loss. Chris Pelosi and Nate Benoit scored for the Bobcats in the defeat.
- The Nittany Lions look to open the season 3-0-0 for the fifth time in program history and the third-straight season after going 9-0-0 to begin 2022-23 and 4-0-0 last season before suffering their first defeats.
- Penn State (21 years, 10 months) and Quinnipiac (21 years, 9 months) are both on the younger side as a roster with Penn State being the third youngest team in the Big Ten and 12th nationally and Quinnipiac is the second-youngest squad in the ECAC and 11th youngest in the country right above the Nittany Lions.
- Penn State’s 27-player roster features nine freshmen while QPac also has nine freshmen on its 26-player squad.
- Quinnipiac returns the fourth-lowest point total in the country from last season with just 39 percent of its 2023-24 offensive output back this year while they also boast the fifth-lowest percentage of returning goals also at 39 percent.
SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
- In defense of its 2023 National Championship, Quinnipiac went 27-10-2 a season ago returning to the NCAA Tournament defeating Wisconsin 3-2 in overtime before dropping the Regional Final to Boston College in overtime 5-4.
- The Bobcats lost 14 players from its 2023-24 roster including their two leading scorers in Collin Graf and Jacob Quillan along with four other top-10 scorers and replaced them with nine freshmen and five transfers. Quinnipiac lost 61 percent of its overall point production and goal scoring from last season’s squad.
- QPac does return three double-digit goal scorers from a season ago in Mason Marcellus (14-22-36), Adam Cerbone (12-14-26) and Ohio State transfer, now in his second season with the Bobcats, Travis Treloar (12-12-24).
- Treloar was named captain for this year’s Quinnipiac squad with Cooper Moore, Davis Pennington and Noah Altman serving as alternates.
- Marcellus was selected as a preseason All-ECAC honoree. As well as being QPac’s leading, returning scorer he is the conference’s leading, returning scorer as well with his 36 points.
- Between the pipes will most likely be sophomore Marinov Matej taking over for Vinny Duplessis. Marinov started 10 games last season giving Duplessis a rest and went 6-3-1 with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Freshman Dylan Silverstein will also battle for playing time.
- The Bobcats were very strong defensively last year allowing just 2.01 goals per game while converting on 31-of-144 powerplay chances (21.5 percent) and killing off 82.9 percent of chances against (107-for-129).
- Last season, the Bobcats became the first team since the 1984-87 Harvard Crimson to win at least a share of four consecutive ECAC regular season titles, and are picked to finish one spot behind a fifth consecutive based on the league’s preseason poll. Cornell is picked to win the ECAC this season.
THE DIMINUTIVE ONE
Senior forward Danny Dzhaniyev, the shortest player in college hockey standing just 5’5” tall, set career-highs across the board last year finishing second on the team with 29 points including a team-best 20 assists.
Dzhaniyev ended the 2023-24 campaign with points in five-straight games to tie his career-best mark and picked up right where he left off last weekend in Alaska scoring the first goal of the season for the Nittany Lions on Saturday before adding a pair of assists in Sunday’s 5-0 victory to stretch his now new career-long point-streak to seven games.
DON’T GET SHORT WITH US
Penn State is one of 15 teams that began play last weekend to be perfect on the penalty kill and were the team that had the most PK’s going a perfect 13-for-13 in Alaska.
The Nittany Lions are also one of just two teams to score multiple shorthanded goals as both Braedon Ford and Dane Dowiak lit the lamp during the PK in back-to-back nights. ASU leads the nation with three shorty’s to Penn State’s two.
The series also marked the first time since the Three Rivers Classic in December 2015 that the Nittany Lions recorded shorthanded tallies in back-to-back games. Penn State had just one shorthanded goal last season and prior to the start of 2024-25 had registered just six shorty’s since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Penn State’s single-season record for shorthanded tallies came during the 2015-16 season when the Nittany Lions potted 12.
THE GOLDEN GOAL
Senior Simon Mack tallied the game-winning goal in overtime for the Nittany Lions in their season opener last Saturday marking the first OT win for Penn State in over a year dating back to a 2-1 victory against Ohio State during the Big Ten Quarterfinals on March 4, 2023.
Penn State went 0-1-3 during extra session contests last season collecting a pair of shootout victories.
Last weekend was also just the third time in the program’s first 13 seasons that the opening game of the year went to extra time and the first win in such games for the Nittany Lions as they were previously 0-1-1 with a loss to AIC in the program’s first game ever in 2012 and a 2-2 tie to UConn two seasons later in 2014.
MACK ATTACK
Mack was named the Big Ten’s Third Star of the Week following his performance in the weekend sweep of Alaska as he registered back-to-back multi-point games adding three total assists to his OT-winner. The senior captain also paced the team with a plus-4 rating in the two games.
Mack now has six multi-point games for his career, and this marks the first time he’s produced back-to-back multi-point efforts during his four seasons in Hockey Valley.
The goal was the first game-winner of his career and his now nine career tallies are tied with last year’s captain, Christian Berger ’24, for the ninth-most by a Nittany Lion blueliner all-time.
Mack’s four points led all Big Ten blueliners for the weekend ranking tied for second in the conference overall, and were just one shy for defensemen nationally behind Arizona State’s Noah Beck who had five. His plus-4 rating also led all Big Ten defensemen while ranking tied for the second-best in the country behind Beck.
YEAR 2 IN HOCKEY VALLEY
The five-member rookie class from last season paced Penn State offensively with 39 goals and 56 assists for 95 points and they started 2024-25 right where they left off a season ago last weekend.
After just a single point on an assist from Aiden Fink during a 4-3 overtime victory, the sophomore sensations popped for nine points including all five goals in Sunday’s 5-0 victory.
Fink led the way tying his career high with four points (1G, 3A), all coming in the second period, while Reese Laubach added a career-high three points on two goals and one assist and Matt DiMarsico and Dane Dowiak each scored once.
Fink’s four-point outburst in the second period tied the Nittany Lion single-period record for points while his three assists also tied a period standard.
Fink’s five points are tied for the top spot in the Big Ten and third nationally while his four assists are currently the conference benchmark and tied for third in the nation following the opening weekend slate of games.
EARLY AND OFTEN
Penn State scored first in both games last weekend after doing so in 16 contests a year ago posting a mark of 10-6-0 in such games during the 2023-24 season.
SHUT THE DOOR
Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev pitched a 32-save shutout last Sunday to record his second career shutout and first as a Nittany Lion. The shutout was the first for Penn State in over a year dating back to an 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech in the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Allentown.
Sergeev currently boasts a 1.47 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage following his 2-0-0 performance against the Nanooks. Those marks are good for second in the nation for goaltenders who have played at least two games behind only Michigan State’s Trey Augustine.
NEXT UP
Penn State has next weekend off ahead of its home opening series against St. Lawrence on October 25-26.
For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey ticket page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
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Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State men's ice hockey. Fans can keep up to date with all things Hockey Valley on X and Instagram @PennStateMHKY, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at facebook.com/pennstatemenshockey.