Wiebusch’s Hat-Trick Lifts No. 5 Men's Hockey Past No. 4 Michigan, 6-5, in OT Thriller.Wiebusch’s Hat-Trick Lifts No. 5 Men's Hockey Past No. 4 Michigan, 6-5, in OT Thriller.

Wiebusch’s Hat-Trick Lifts No. 5 Men's Hockey Past No. 4 Michigan, 6-5, in OT Thriller.

Wiebusch's first-ever hat-trick, the 15th in program history, and the first Penn State postseason hatty gives the Nittany Lions a 1-0 series lead in the B1G Quarterfinals

Author John Hanna
Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Freshman JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) scored the final three goals of the game for Penn State including the overtime winner as the fifth-seeded Nittany Lions knocked off No. 4 Michigan, 6-5, in game one of the Big Ten Quarterfinals at Yost Ice Arena on Friday evening.

The hat-trick was the first of Wiebusch’s career, the 15th in program history, and the first-ever in Penn State postseason history. It marks the second three-goal game for the Nittany Lions this season and second-ever at Yost Ice Arena.

With four assists, including the secondary helper on the game-winning goal, sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) moves past Alex Limoges ’21, setting a new Penn State single-season points record with 51 now on the season.

Penn State improves to 19-12-4 following the victory while the Wolverines fall to 18-14-3 overall with the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the scoring with a goal off the rush as Fink and senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) used crip passing to set up senior Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) in the low slot and he rifled the puck into the back of the net for the 1-0 edge at 5:26 of the first period.
  • The Wolverines answered just 16 ticks later as Mark Estapa slipped in a rebound that snuck behind Nittany Lion junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) for the 1-1 score at the 5:42 mark.
  • The visitors regained the lead as freshman JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) caused a neutral zone turnover and classmate Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) entered the zone before feathering the puck to the front of the net finding sophomore Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) who slipped a shot through the pads of Michigan net-minder Logan Stein for the 2-1 advantage at 8:05 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions got another one late in the opening frame as Dzhaniyev found space at the far post and roofed the puck shortside and over the shoulder of Stein for the 3-1 score with just 57.3 ticks remaining in the period.
  • Michigan cut the deficit to a single goal, 3-2, during a stretch of 4-on-4 play just past the midway point of the second period as Jackson Hallum laced a one-timer far side and past the blocker of Sergeev at the 13:19 mark.
  • The Wolverines evened the contest early in the third period with a powerplay goal as Will Horcoff slipped in a rebound at the far post for the 3-3 score at the 1:47 mark.
  • Penn State responded to regain the two-goal lead with a pair of JJ Wiebusch goals in just over a two-minute span as he had a yawning net on the powerplay off a terrific feed from Fink at the 6:52 mark before finishing a rebound off DiMarsico’s initial bid at 8:47 of the third period.
  • The hosts again had a quick response cutting the deficit back to a single goal just five seconds later as Nick Moldenhauer beat Sergeev shortside and over the shoulder for the 5-4 score at 9:06 of the final frame.
  • Michigan tied the contest once again with under five minutes to play as Hallum netted his second off the game off a feed from behind the net from Ethan Edwards at 15:32 of the third period.
  • The Nittany Lions capitalized on a powerplay in the early stages of overtime as Wiebusch tipped the hat with a behind-the-back, between-the-legs shortside snipe under the blocker of Stein for the 6-5 victory at exactly 5:00 of the extra session.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the, 36-26, edge in shots on goal while the Nittany Lions went 2-for-4 on the man-advantage. Michigan was 1-for-2 on the powerplay.
  • Penn State is now 17-0-1 when leading after two periods this season and move to 15-5-2 this season when scoring first.
  • With one goal and one assist each, Dzhaniyev and Schoen collect their ninth and second multi-point efforts of the season and the 25th and 11th of their careers, respectively.
  • Dzhaniyev’s 30 points this season are a new career-best mark surpassing the 29 he tallied as a junior in 2023-24.
  • With a career-best four assists Fink ties the Penn State single-game assist record while tying his career-high in points.
  • Fink notches his team-leading 15th multi-point effort of the season and the 24th of his career in the process while his 27 assists on the season are tied for the second-most in a single-season in Penn State history and just one shy of Denis Smirnov’s ’20 single-season record of 28.
  • Wiebusch set a new career high with four points as he added one assist to go along with his three goals marking his seventh multi-point game and of the season while collecting the first multi-goal game of his career. With 28 points this year, Wiebusch moves past Andrew Sturtz and Casey Bailey for the fifth-most by a freshman at Penn State.
  • With one goal and one assist, DiMarsico tallies his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 11th of his career and he has now scored a goal in three-straight games for the first time in his career.
  • With a career-best three assists, Cerrato tied his career-high in points while securing his 12th multi-point effort of the season while his 34 points are now tied with Fink's total from last season for third-most by a Nittany Lion rookie all-time.
  • Cerrato’s 20 assists on the season are the second-most by a Nittany Lion rookie while Wiebusch’s 18 are the sixth-most by a Penn State freshman.
  • Penn State moves to 15-13-0 all-time in Big Ten Tournament games while the 15 tournament wins for Gadowsky tie Ohio State’s Steve Rohlik for the most all-time.

NEXT UP

The two teams return to Yost tomorrow evening for game two of the best-of-three series with puck drop once again slated for 7 p.m. and the game streamed on B1G+.

For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.