Men's Hockey Opens Second Half at Wrigley Field vs. Notre DameMen's Hockey Opens Second Half at Wrigley Field vs. Notre Dame
Steven Walter

Steven Walter

Men's Hockey Opens Second Half at Wrigley Field vs. Notre Dame

The Penn State Nittany Lions open their second half slate this Friday when they take things outside to the Frozen Confines at Wrigley Field to battle Notre Dame with puck drop slated for 8:30 p.m. ET. The two teams then conclude the weekend series in South Bend at 5 p.m. on Sunday evening.

Penn State vs. Notre Dame
Wrigley Field - Chicago, Ill. | Compton Family Ice Arena - South Bend, Ind.

Penn State vs. Notre Dame

Penn State
Penn State

7-9-0 | 0-8-0 B1G

At
Notre Dame
Notre Dame

6-12-0 | 1-9-0 B1G

CHICAGO, Ill. – The Penn State Nittany Lions open their second half slate this Friday when they take things outside to the Frozen Confines at Wrigley Field to battle Notre Dame with puck drop slated for 8:30 p.m. ET. The two teams then conclude the weekend series in South Bend at 5 p.m. on Sunday evening.

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Dates: Friday, January 3 | Sunday, January 5
Place: Chicago, Ill. | South Bend, Ind.
Time: 8:30 p.m. | 5 p.m.

Series Breakdown

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • This week marks the 36th and 37th meetings all-time between Penn State and Notre Dame with the Irish holding the 21-9-5 record including the 13-5-1 mark in South Bend. The game at Wrigley will be the first neutral site matchup between the two teams.
  • The Frozen Confines game at Wrigley Field on Friday marks the first-ever Division I outdoor game for the Nittany Lions. Penn State did compete at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia nearly 12 years to the day on January 4, 2012, in its last year as a club program before making the leap to Division I the following year. The Nittany Lions lost that contest to Division III Neumann, 6-3.
  • Penn State plays its first game in 22 days on Friday and is 9-3-0 all-time in its first game back after winter break including winners of seven-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.
  • Senior Dylan Lugris leads all Nittany Lions with three goals in nine career games against Notre Dame while classmates Danny Dzhaniyev, Simon Mack and Jimmy Dowd Jr. have each added two. Dzhaniyev leads all current Nittany Lions with five points in 17 games against the Irish on two goals and three assists.
  • This weekend pits two of the winningest coaches of all-time against one another as Jeff Jackson, in his final season, leads all active coaches and ranks 10th all-time with 595 victories, just one shy of tying longtime UNH Bench Boss Dick Umile for ninth.
  • Guy Gadowsky secured career win No. 389 prior to the holiday break as he ranks 34th all-time and sits just one win shy of tying former Gopher head man Doug Woog for 33rd. Gadowsky ranks 12th among active coaches.
  • Penn State is the 12th-youngest team in the nation with an average age of 21 years and nine months while Notre Dame’s average age of 22 years on the dot places them as the 19th youngest team in the country.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME

  • The Irish begin the second half of the season losers of 10 of their last 11 games including three-straight. Notre Dame is just 6-12-0 on the year and 1-9-0 in Big Ten play. The lone conference victory came back in overtime against Wisconsin in its first Big Ten game of the year on November 1.
  • The Irish returned 19 student-athletes from the 2023-24 roster, including two 20+ point scorers from a season ago in Danny Nelson (9-14-23) and Cole Knuble (9-11-20). However, they lost four of their top-six scorers including 20-goal scorer Landon Slaggert who led the team with 31 points and Patrick Moynihan who ranked second with 24.
  • Notre Dame is paced offensively by sophomore Cole Knuble who leads the way with 18 points on seven goals and a team-best 11 assists. Fellow sophomore Danny Nelson leads the team with eight goals.
  • Mercyhurst transfer Owen Say has taken the reigns between the pipes for the Irish, following the departure of Ryan Bischel, starting 12 of the teams 18 games played posting a 5-7-0 record with a .922 save percentage and a 2.80 goals-against average. His save percentage is good for fourth in the Big Ten and tied for 21st nationally.
  • Notre Dame’s 2.67 goals per game places them last in the Big Ten and 38th nationally while they are allowing 3.06 goals per game which is the second-most in the Big Ten ahead of just Penn State at 3.25.
  • The Irish powerplay has been on fire this season converting at a 26.4 percent (14-for-53) clip to pace the Big Ten and rank seventh nationally, however, they ended the first half on a minor cold streak going 0-for-6 over their final three games of 2024.

DYLLY DYLLY

  • Senior Dylan Lugris had a career year in 2023-24 compiling career-best marks across the board with eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 36 games played.
  • Although he was in and out of the lineup throughout the opening semester this year he finished the calendar year appearing in five-straight games and has hit his stride registering goals in three of his last four games including two-straight as the calendar flips to January.
  • Lugris tallied the eventual game-winner in Penn State’s final contest of 2024 with a bar down snipe as part of a 4-1 victory over Army West Point during the inaugural Capital Hockey Classic at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

 

BLUELINE BEAUTIES

  • Both Jimmy Dowd Jr. and Simon Mack pushed their way closer to history against Army as Dowd fired home his first goal of the season and the 12th of his career pulling him even with Trevor Hamilton ‘18 for fifth on the Penn State all-time goal scoring list for defensemen while Dowd’s 69 points are now just nine shy of Cole Hults’ defenseman record of 78.
  • Mack sits tied for ninth on the Penn State all-time defenseman goal list with nine for his career while he also ranks ninth with 48 points just four shy of Vince Pedrie for eighth. Mack’s 13 points this season are just three shy of his career high from last season while his 12 assists already match his 2023-24 career mark.
  • Mack’s 12 helpers this season are tied for second in the Big Ten among defensemen and rank tied for seventh in the nation for blueliners. Five of his 12 assists have come on the man-advantage.

 

QUICK DRAW

  • Penn State has been exceptional at the dot through the first half of the season as the Nittany Lions lead the nation winning 56.5 percent of their faceoffs. Penn State has only lost the faceoff battle three times this season and is actually 2-1-0 in those games.
  • Freshman Charlie Cerrato leads the team and ranks second in the nation, among true centerman averaging 10 or more draws per game, winning 63.1 percent (157-for-249) on the season only behind Wisconsin’s Owen Lindmark at 65.6 percent (212-for-323).
  • Sophomore Dane Dowiak has also stepped-up ranking third in the Big Ten behind Lindmark and Cerrato at 59.8 percent (101-for-169).

 

SOPHOMORE SENSATIONS

  • Sophomore Aiden Fink has points in eight of his last nine games and is currently leading the Big Ten and ranks third nationally averaging 1.44 points per game while his 23 points rank third in the conference and are tied for fifth in the nation. Fink’s eight goals are tied for the eighth-most in the Big Ten while his 15 helpers are tied for third in the conference and eighth in the nation.
  • Fink hit the 50-point mark for his career back in November becoming the second fastest Nittany Lion to reach that milestone doing it in just his 45th career game. Denis Smirnov ‘20 hit the 50-point mark in his 41st collegiate game back in 2017 to set the Penn State standard.
  • Sophomore classmate Reese Laubach secured his second multi-goal game of the season last time out against Army as he now has eight goals on the year, tying Fink for the team lead. His eight goals are already just two shy of his freshman year total of 10. Laubach’s 15 points are also good for second on the team behind Fink’s 23.
  • In total, the Nittany Lion sophomore class has combined for 59 points on 26 goals and 33 assists accounting for exactly 50 percent of Penn State’s goals this season and 41 percent of the total offense.

 

ISN’T THAT SPECIAL

  • Penn State’s special teams ranked near the bottom of the nation a year ago, but have rebounded nicely so far in 2024-25 with the powerplay ranking tied for 16th in the nation converting at 23.6 percent (13-for-55).
  • The Penn State PK is a perfect 100 percent in eight non-conference games this season, but only 78.8 percent overall placing them in the middle of the pack nationally. However, if you remove one bad weekend against Michigan where the Nittany Lions allowed eight powerplay goals on 11 chances, Penn State has an 89 percent penalty kill only allowing six powerplay goals in its other 14 games.
  • Fink is tied for third in the Big Ten in both powerplay goals (3) and powerplay points (9) only behind Wisconsin’s Quinn Finley and Gavin Morrissey who each have 11 powerplay points on the year.

 

DON’T GET SHORT WITH US

  • Reese Laubach notched the second shorthanded goal of his career last time out against Army becoming just the 10th Nittany Lion all-time to register multiple shortys for his career.
  • The Nittany Lions now have four shorthanded tallys on the season, ranking tied for third in the nation behind only Clarkson and UConn who each have five. The four shortys are the most for Penn State since registering seven during the 2018-19 campaign.

 

NEXT UP

Penn State returns home for six-straight games starting with a series against the No. 1 team in the nation, Michigan State, on January 10-11 in Hockey Valley.

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.

Follow the Nittany Lions

Follow the Nittany Lions

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.