No. 12 Men's Hockey Battles No. 7 UConn for Frozen Four Berth on SundayNo. 12 Men's Hockey Battles No. 7 UConn for Frozen Four Berth on Sunday

No. 12 Men's Hockey Battles No. 7 UConn for Frozen Four Berth on Sunday

Penn State and UConn set to meet for the first time in over 10 years with a trip to St. Louis and the Frozen Four on the line

No. 12 Penn State vs. No. 7 UConn
PPL Center | Allentown, Pennsylvania

No. 12 Penn State vs. No. 7 UConn

No. 12 Penn State
No. 12 Penn State

21-13-4 | 9-11-4 B1G

vs.
No. 7 UConn
No. 7 UConn

23-11-4 | 12-4-1 HEA

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions are set to square off with seventh-ranked UConn with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line in the Allentown Regional Final on Sunday evening at the PPL Center.

Penn State is making its second regional final appearance in the past three years and third overall in four trips to the big dance while the Huskies are competing in their first-ever NCAA Tournament and arrive to this position following a 4-1 victory over Quinnipiac in the first semifinal on Friday.

Follow the Action

Follow the Action

Dates: Sunday, March 30
Place: Allentown, Pennsylvania
Time: 4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN2

Series Breakdown

SUNDAY’S MATCHUP

  • Penn State is 3-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games advancing to three regional finals including two in the past three seasons, but have yet to punch its ticket to the Frozen Four as the Nittany Lions are 0-2 in regional final contests including a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime defeat against Michigan just two short years ago right here in Allentown.
  • Sunday’s game marks the fifth meeting all-time between the Nittany Lions and Huskies, however, it is the first meeting since the 2014 season in Hockey Valley when the teams played to a 2-2 tie before Penn State secured a 7-1 victory the following night. UConn holds the slim 1-2-1 edge in the all-time series as they swept the first two meetings in Storrs, 4-3 and 4-1 during Penn State’s inaugural Division I season in 2012-13.
  • Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev transferred to Hockey Valley from UConn this past summer and will be facing his former team with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. Sergeev is 18-8-4 on the year with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. Sergeev’s 18 wins are tied with Peyton Jones ’20 for the third-most in a single-season by a Nittany Lion net-minder while his goals-against average is also tied with Jones for the third-best and his save percentage ranks fourth.
  • In its previous six NCAA Tournament games Penn State is outscoring opponents 28-17 averaging 4.67 goals per game while allowing just 2.83 goals per game.
  • Freshmen classmates Charlie Cerrato and JJ Wiebusch each extended their career-best point streaks to seven games with multi-point efforts against Maine as Cerrato tied his career-high in points and assists with a trio of helpers and Wiebusch had one goal and one assist.
  • Combined with linemate Matt DiMarsico (two goals on Friday) the trio has now skated in 30 games together combining for 40 goals and 52 assists for 92 points for an average of 3.07 points per game.
  • The trio has become the most dominate line for the Nittany Lions since the Evan Barratt - Alex Limoges - Liam Folkes line wreaked havoc across the nation for three seasons finishing with an eye-popping 109 goals, 145 assists and 254 points over 86 games (2.95 points per game) together including the 2018-19 season where they combined for 123 points in 31 games (3.97 points per game) on 53 goals and 70 assists.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

  • UConn defeated Quinnipiac 4-1 in the first semifinal on Friday using a balanced attack that saw four different players register goals and nine different players register points. Hugh Larkin, Ethan Gardula, Tristan Fraser and Joey Muldowney each lit the lamp for the Huskies in the win.
  • Muldowney leads the team with 46 points on 28 goals and 18 assists this season to rank fifth in Hockey East and tied for 13th in the nation for points and second in both Hockey East and the nationally for goals.
  • Penn State defeated No. 3 overall seed and fourth-ranked Maine, 5-1, in the second semifinal on Friday led by DiMarsico and fellow sophomore Dane Dowiak with multi-goal efforts. Penn State also went 2-for-5 with the man-advantage and have now scored at least one powerplay goal in eight-straight games and 10 of the last 12. The Nittany Lions were also a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
  • UConn went 0-for-2 with the man-advantage against Quinnipiac, but was a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
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#FINKFORHOBEY

  • Aiden Fink, Penn State first-ever Hobey Top-10 Finalist, is just the third Nittany Lion all time to reach 40 points and 20 goals in the same season joining Casey Bailey (22-18-40) in 2014-15) and Alex Limoges (23-27-50 in 2018-19).
  • Fink’s 53 points and 30 assists this season are new Penn State single-season records while his 23 goals and are tied for the Nittany Lion single-season standard with Alex Limoges (2018-19). Fink’s point total is the top mark in the Big Ten and tied for the third-most nationally while his 30 assists also top the conference and are tied for sixth nationally. His 23 goals are the third-most in the Big Ten and tied for eighth in the nation.
  • The Calgary, Alberta native is currently second in the nation averaging 1.39 points per game.
  • Fink is the only Nittany Lion to begin his career with back-to-back 30+-point seasons and becomes just the seventh all-time to have multiple such seasons following his 34-point freshman campaign. He is also the only Nittany Lion to record multiple hat-tricks in a career following his three-goal outing against Canisius in January.
  • The sophomore is third on the team at +18 for the season, the top mark among forwards, while his eight powerplay tallies and two shorthanded scores both rank in the top-10 nationally with his man-advantage total tying his own PSU single-season record set last year. Fink leads the team with 15 multi-point efforts on the campaign and has only been kept off the scoresheet in eight of the 38 games this season.
  • Fink has 87 points in 72 career games for a 1.21 points per game average, currently the best mark all-time at Penn State as he sits just outside the top-10 for goals and points in Nittany Lion history.

THAT’S BEAUTY

  • Wiebusch is just the fourth Nittany Lion rookie all-time to eclipse the 30-point mark at Penn State joining linemate Cerrato who becomes just the second Penn State freshman to reach the 40-point threshold joining Denis Smirnov ’20 who put up 47 points during his incredible rookie campaign in 2016-17.
  • Wiebusch’s 13 goals this season, six of which have come in the past four games, are now tied for the eighth-most by a Nittany Lion rookie all-time while Cerrato’s 15 are tied for fifth. Cerrato has 25 assists this season which are the second-most by a Penn State rookie behind Smirnov’s 28 and are tied for the 10th-most among all players in a single-season in Nittany Lion history. Wiebusch’s assist total on 19 place him tied for third on the single-season list for Penn State freshman.

AYE, AYE CAPTAIN

  • Senior captain Simon Mack tallied one assist on Friday moving him into third alone on the Penn State all-time scoring list by defenseman with 63 points breaking a tie with Kris Myllari ’20.
  • Mack’s 25 assists this season are already a Nittany Lion single-season record for a defenseman and are good for the 10th-most all-time among all players while his 28 points are tied with Cole Hults for the fourth-most in a season for a Penn State blueliner.
  • The senior’s point total is tied for third in the Big Ten and 13th nationally while his assist total place him second in the Big Ten and seventh in the nation.
  • Mack also collected three blocks on Friday moving past Hults for the sixth-most in Penn State history with 180 now for his career.
  • Mack leads the team with a plus-20 rating which is tied for the 11th best among defensemen nationally and currently ranks tied for the ninth-best in a single-season in Penn State history, fifth among defensemen.

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

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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.