No. 12/5 Men's Hockey Battles No. 8/3 Boston U in National Semifinals on ThursdayNo. 12/5 Men's Hockey Battles No. 8/3 Boston U in National Semifinals on Thursday

No. 12/5 Men's Hockey Battles No. 8/3 Boston U in National Semifinals on Thursday

Penn State and Boston University set to meet for the first time ever in a Frozen Four matchup on Thursday evening in St. Louis

No. 12/5 Penn State vs. No. 8/3 Boston U
Enterprise Center | St. Louis, Mo.

No. 12/5 Penn State vs. No. 8/3 Boston U

No. 12/5 Penn State
No. 12/5 Penn State

22-13-4 | 9-11-4 B1G

vs.
No. 8/3 Boston U
No. 8/3 Boston U

23-13-2 | 14-8-2 HEA

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The 12th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions are set to square off with eighth-ranked Boston University for the first time ever during the national semifinals of the Frozen Four on Thursday evening at Enterprise Center.

The winner will face the winner of the first national semifinal between Denver and Western Michigan in the national championship game on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET at Enterprise Center.

Follow the Action

Follow the Action

Dates: Thursday, April 10
Place: St. Louis, Mo.
Time: 7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2

Series Breakdown

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • For the first time in program history, the Terriers and Nittany Lions will face off in Penn State’s inaugural trip to the Frozen Four. Following wins against Maine and UConn in the Allentown Regional, Penn State is now 10-10-2 all-time against Hockey East schools, including a 4-1-1 record in its last six, with its third-straight Hockey East opponent awaiting in St. Louis.
  • Prior to the regionals, The Nittany Lions hadn’t faced a Hockey East team since the 2019-20 season when they beat Merrimack 7-0 before dropping a 3-2 decision against UMass-Lowell in overtime during the Turkey Leg Classic in November 2019.
  • Penn State is competing in its first-ever Frozen Four this week while Boston University is making its third consecutive Frozen Four and the 25th overall in 40 NCAA Tournament trips. The Terriers have won five national championships with the last one coming in 2009. BU is 49-40 all-time in NCAA Tournament competition.
  • BU head coach Jay Pandolfo is now 7-for-7 in reaching the Frozen Four (four as a player, three as a coach) and was part of the 1995 BU National Championship squad. Penn State bench boss Guy Gadowsky is making his first Frozen Four appearance in his 30-year career in collegiate hockey as both a player and coach.
  • After their Allentown Regional victory, the Nittany Lions are now 4-3-0 in NCAA Tournament games and have only faced one team more than once having battled fellow 2025 Frozen Four member Denver twice prior in NCAA Tournament action (2017, 2018). The Nittany Lions are outscoring their opponents 31-19 during NCAA Tournament play averaging 4.43 goals per game while allowing just 2.71.
  • The overtime neutral site victory for Penn State in the Allentown Regional final against UConn marked the first neutral site OT win for the Nittany Lions since capturing the Big Ten Championship with a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin at Joe Louis Arena on March 18, 2017, cementing them into their first NCAA Tournament in the process.
  • Goaltender Arsenii Sergeev made 42 saves in the 3-2 overtime win over then-No. 7 UConn marking the most saves for a Nittany Lion net-minder in the NCAA Tournament and just one shy of his career-best. Sergeev finished the weekend stopping 68-of-71 shots for a .958 save percentage to go along with a 1.30 goals-against average.
  • Sergeev along with defensemen Cade Christenson and Simon Mack and forwards Dane Dowiak and JJ Wiebusch each landed on the Allentown Regional All-Tournament Team with Dowiak being named Most Outstanding Player.
  • Following a victory at Capital One Arena earlier this season, Penn State is 18-12-1 all-time in games played in NHL venues including a 10-0-1 record in the last 11.
  • Enterprise Center marks the ninth different NHL barn the Nittany Lions have competed in joining Gila River Arena (2-0-0), PPG Paints Arena (5-5-0), Joe Louis Arena (3-1-0), Madison Square Garden (1-2-0), Wells Fargo Center (3-2-1), Xcel Energy Center (2-2-0), Bridgestone Arena (1-0-0) and the aforementioned Capital One Arena (1-0-0).

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS

  • Boston University enters the Frozen Four after winning the Toledo Regional with an 8-3 victory over Ohio State and a 3-2 overtime win against Cornell. The Terriers have only lost six games since January 1 and arrive in St. Louis with a 23-13-2 overall record.
  • The Terriers have a top-five offense in the nation with 145 goals in 38 games averaging 3.82 goals per game, ranking fourth in the nation and tops in Hockey East for each category.
  • Penn State ranks fifth in the nation with 138 goals averaging 3.54 goals per game, a mark good for seventh as each of this year’s Frozen Four teams are in the top-seven nationally for both goals scored and goals per game with Denver and Western Michigan sitting No. 1 and No. 2.
  • BU is paced on offense by the Hutson brothers as Quinn Hutson has 50 points on a team-high 23 goals and 27 assists and Cole Hutson has 46 points on a team-best 32 assists to go along with 14 goals. Cole Eiserman also has 23 goals for the Terriers as both Eiserman and Hutson are tied for eighth nationally in goal scoring while Hutson’s 50 points are good for ninth nationally with brother Cole’s 32 assists and 46 points ranking tied for fourth and 15th in the nation. Cole ranks second nationally among defensemen in each offensive category.
  • Eiserman has a team-high 10 powerplay goals this season, a mark tied for second in the nation behind the 11 of Denver’s Sam Harris. The Terrier powerplay is clicking at 28.4 percent (38-for-134) to rank fourth in the nation while the 38 man-advantage tallies are good for third. BU has scored at least one powerplay goal in six-straight games entering the Frozen Four.
  • Boston University, along with Penn State are two of only eight teams to score 30 or more powerplay goals this season as the Nittany Lions rank tied for fifth in the nation with 33 man-advantage scores. PSU saw its streak of seven-straight games with at least one powerplay goal snapped against UConn in the regional final after failing to convert on its one chance in the game.
  • The Terrier penalty kill unit has allowed opponents to score on 29-of-139 chances, the most of the 16 teams to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The penalty kill unit has operated at 78.5 percent (the third lowest among NCAA Tournament qualifiers) but has only allowed four powerplay goals in the last 12 games. BU is the most penalized team in the nation averaging 5.03 penalties and 13.5 PIM’s per game.
  • Goaltender Mikhail Yegorov entered the fold in January and has started each of the past 16 games posting a 10-5-1 record with a .931 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average.

TO BE THE BEST, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST

  • Penn State rebounded after going winless in its first nine Big Ten games (0-8-1) to have the most successful second half in program history.
  • The Nittany Lions have been the hottest team in college hockey during the second half of the season posting a 15-4-4 record since the calendar flipped to 2025 climbing from No. 33 in the Pairwise at the beginning of January to No. 13 by the end of the conference tournaments to earn the final at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The 15 wins are the most-ever for the Nittany Lions post-Christmas while this marks the first season Penn State has reached a 40th game
  • PSU has lost in regulation just three times in the new year to the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 13 teams in the nation at the time.
  • Penn State has played 62 percent (24-of-39) of its games this season against ranked opponents including each of the last nine and 15 of the last 17. The Nittany Lions are 10-4-3 in their last 17 games against ranked opponents this season including a 6-3-3 mark against top-10 teams with each of those ties resulting in shootout wins.

THE B1G GADOWSKY

  • The wins in Allentown marked the 403rd and 404th of head coach Guy Gadowsky’s career as he now sits 29th all-time and 9th among active coaches following the retirements of Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson and Cornell’s Mike Schafer at season’s end.
  • Following Jackson’s retirement, Gadowsky is now the longest tenured coach in the Big Ten and the 14th longest tenured in the nation. He had led Penn State to six 20+-win seasons, all within the past 10 years, and four NCAA Tournaments (five if you include 2020). This also marks his first-ever Frozen Four in his 25th season as a collegiate head coach.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

  • Penn State is the 15th youngest team in the nation with an average age of 21 years and nine months while Boston University is the third youngest with an average age of 21 years and two months.
  • Five of Penn State’s top-six scorers are either freshmen or sophomores including each of the top-four as those two classes have combined for 105 goals and 139 assists for 244 points contributing 76 percent of Penn State’s goal scoring and 65 percent of its total offense.
  • Furthermore, the freshmen and sophomores have combined for 24 of the 33 powerplay tallies (73 percent) the Nittany Lions have scored this season as well as 65 percent of total man-advantage scoring.

WE’VE GOT THE POWER

  • Penn State saw its streak of scoring at least one powerplay goal in seven straight games snapped in the regional final against UConn, however, the Nittany Lions have still scored at least one man-advantage goal in 10 of its last 12 going 13-for-39 (33 percent) during that stretch pushing its season total to 23.9 percent (33-for-138).
  • While the Nittany Lions rank just third in the Big Ten in powerplay percentage, they rank 15th nationally while the 33 man-advantage markers are tied for fifth in the nation.
  • On the other end, Penn State’s penalty kill has floated around the middle of the pack nationally all season and is at 79.3 percent entering the Frozen Four, however, following a perfect 3-for-3 showing in Allentown, The Nittany Lions remain a perfect 37-for-37 on the PK in non-conference games this season.

ARSI’S ON FIRE

  • Arsenii Sergeev is also having one of the best goaltending seasons in Penn State history posting a 19-8-4 record with a .918 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. The Yaroslavl, Russia native is 15-4-4 since returning from injury in January with the 15 wins being the most in the Big Ten, seven better than the next closest, and third-most nationally over that timeframe, just one shy of Denver’s Matt Davis and Holy Cross’ Thomas Gale who have 16 second half wins. Sergeev has added three shootout wins in those four ties.
  • Sergeev’s 19 wins this season are tied for the second-most in a single-season by a Nittany Lion net-minder with his four shutouts also being a single-season record while his save percentage and goals-against average are currently the third-best single-season marks for a Penn State net-minder.
  • Sergeev’s 918 saves are also tied for the third-most in a single-season for a Nittany Lion goaltender and rank as the most in the Big Ten and 11th most in the nation while his 735 saves since January are tops in the country, 126 clear of the next closest.

START FAST, FINISH STRONG

  • Penn State has scored first in 22 of 39 games this season posting a 15-5-2 record when lighting the lamp first, however, the opponent scored first in both games during the Allentown Regional with the Nittany Lions improving to 7-8-2 in such games.
  • The Nittany Lions are also 19-1-1 when leading after two periods of play with the lone loss coming against Ohio State in the Big Ten Semifinals, conversely, Penn State is 0-9-2 when trailing after forty minutes of play.

SOPHOMORE SENSATION

  • Aiden Fink 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.
  • Fink’s point total is the top mark in the Big Ten and the fourth-most nationally while his 30 assists also top the conference and are tied for seventh nationally. His 23 goals are the third-most in the Big Ten and tied for eighth in the nation.
  • 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 has 87 points in 73 career games for a 1.20 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.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

  • Freshman classmates Charlie Cerrato and JJ Wiebusch are just the second rookie duo in program history to both reach 30 points in the same season joining Denis Smirnov (47) and Nate Sucese (36) who accomplished this feat in 2016-17.
  • Cerrato is having one of the best rookie campaigns in Penn State history becoming just the second Nittany Lion freshman to eclipse the 40-point mark as he did so with five points, all assists, during the Allentown Regional. Cerrato sits behind only Smirnov on the Nittany Lion rookie scoring list.
  • Cerrato has 15 goals and 27 assists which both lead the Big Ten for rookies and rank fourth and second in the nation among first year skaters while his 42 points are also second nationally among freshman behind BU’s Cole Hutson. His assists are the second-most in a season by a Nittany Lion rookie all-time while his 15 goals tie Aiden Fink’s mark from a season ago for the fifth-most.
  • Wiebusch is riding a career-best five-game goal streak dating back to his hat-trick in the B1G Quarterfinals against Michigan and has now scored in seven of his last eight games with nine goals during that stretch to give him 14 on the season, tied for the seventh-most by a NIttany Lion rookie all time while his 33 points are the fifth-most in a single-season by a Penn State freshman , just one shy of Fink’s 2023-24 total of 34.
  • Both Cerrato and Wiebusch enter the Frozen Four on career-best eight game point streaks with Cerrato tallying 3-14--17 with six multi-point games during that stretch and Wiebusch registering 9-5--14 with three multi-point games during the streak.
  • Wiebusch’s 33 points this season are the third-most in the Big Ten among rookies while ranking tied for seventh nationally.
  • Cerrato and Wiebusch have combined for 75 points on 29 goals and 46 assists marking the most points between a rookie duo since Smirnov and Sucese combined for 83 points on 36 goals and 47 assists during the 2016-17 season.
  • Cerrato has registered 30 (9G, 21) of his 42 points in 21 games played since the calendar turned to 2025. Similarly, Wiebusch has 22 (11G, 11A) of his 33 points in the second half of the season.

OT HERO

  • Like Liam Folkes ‘20 before him, sophomore Matt DiMarsico scored one of the biggest goals in program history in overtime with his shortside snipe at 17:56 of the extra session to defeat UConn, 3-2, in the Allentown Regional Final and send the Nittany Lions to St. Louis.
  • DiMarsico had three goals in Allentown and has now scored at least one goal in six of his last seven games pushing his season total to 17, the second-most on the team and tied for the ninth-most in a single-season in program history. DiMarsico has added 15 assists for 32 points to rank fourth on the team behind linemates Cerrato and Wiebusch.
  • The Wexford, Pa. native leads the team with 147 shots on goal this season and had five in each game in Allentown.

BEHIND-THE-BACK BOYS

  • DiMarsico, Cerrato and Wiebusch have played on a line together for most of the year skating in 31 games the trio has combined for 42 goals and 54 assists for 96 points for an average of 3.10 points per game with a +41 rating as a group.
  • 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.
  • DiMarsico was also part of another dominate trio last season the “Kid Line” as often referred to played 23 games together and finished with 24 goals and 37 assists for 61 points averaging 2.65 points per game.

BLOCK PARTY

  • Penn State leads all teams in the Frozen Four with 587 blocked shots, tied for the second-most nationally while averaging 15.1 blocks per game, a mark good for fifth in the nation and also tops among FF teams. The Nittany Lions blocked an eye-popping 33 shots in the Regional Final against UConn and averaged 25 blocks per game in the regional.
  • Freshman Cade Christenson leads all Frozen Four participants averaging 2.03 blocks per game while his 77 blocks on the season are also the most at the Frozen Four and rank tied for seventh nationally.
  • Christenson’s 77 blocks this season are the eighth-most in a single-season in Penn State history.
  • Senior Simon Mack is second on the team with 70 blocks. Mack moved into fifth on the Penn State all-time blocks list with 183 for his career.

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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