No. 6 Men's Hockey Hosts LIU For Weekend SetNo. 6 Men's Hockey Hosts LIU For Weekend Set

No. 6 Men's Hockey Hosts LIU For Weekend Set

The sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions are in the midst of a six-game homestand as they welcome the LIU Sharks to Hockey Valley for a pair of non-conference games on Friday and Saturday evening.

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No. 6 Penn State vs. LIU
Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.

No. 6 Penn State vs. LIU

No. 6 Penn State
No. 6 Penn State

3-1-0 | 0-0-0 B1G

VS
LIU
LIU

1-2-0 | Independent

Follow the Action

Follow the Action

2025-26 AUDIO BROADCASTS

  • Audio broadcasts for all Penn State hockey games for the 2025-26 season are available on the Penn State Sports Network via radio affiliates and streaming oncom.
  • Former Nittany Lion goaltender Chris Funkey and 2017-18 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Trevor Hamilton will join play-by-play broadcaster Brian Tripp for most games throughout the season.

Series Breakdown

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the fourth and fifth meetings between the two schools and the first at Pegula Ice Arena since the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Penn State is 3-0-0 all-time against the Sharks outscoring them 11-5 in the three games.
  • The two teams last played to open the 2023-24 campaign on Long Island, a 3-2 win for the Nittany Lions. Then-freshman Matt DiMarsico scored the opening goal late in the first period, however, Penn State had to come-from-behind to secure the win with Dylan Lugris ‘25 scoring the game-winning goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
  • Only nine current Nittany Lions skated in the game two years ago with Aiden Fink adding an assist to go along with DiMarsico’s goal, while the Sharks have just four players remaining on the roster from that game two years ago.
  • Penn State is the 13th youngest team in the nation this season with an average age of 21 years and seven months while LIU is the 17th oldest team with an average age of 22 years and six months.

PARKING INFORMATION

  • Parking for all athletics events requires a valid university permit or payment of an applicable parking fee. Parking can be purchased in advance (by 11:59 p.m. the day prior to each event) at a discounted rate on ParkWhiz. Parking can also be purchased at full price on game day on ParkWhiz.
  • Parking for men’s ice hockey games at Pegula Ice Arena can be found in the Stadium West, Jordan East, and Porter North lots.
  • Parking for all non-football athletics events is managed by Penn State Transportation services.

SCOUTING THE SHARKS

  • LIU finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 20-12-2 record including an 8-2-0 mark to close the year marking its first 20-win season in program history. Head Coach Brett Riley then left for the Ferris State job and LIU then hired his cousin Brendan Riley as head coach back in April after four seasons as an assistant coach at AIC.
  • The Sharks are without the services of each of its top-four scorers from a season ago as leading scorer Carter Rapalje followed Riley to Ferris State after a 17-goal and 30-point freshman campaign at LIU. Second leading scorer Austin Brimmer transferred to RIT. Josh Zary who was second on the team with 12 goals also transferred to Ferris State while Chris Pappas graduated.
  • R. Perdion is the leading scorer returning after putting up four goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 31 games a season ago and he has two goals and two assists for four points through the first three games this season to pace the Sharks.
  • 2024-25 starting net-minder Noah Rupprecht also followed Riley to Ferris State after starting in 17 games a season ago and posting a 12-5-0 record with a .901 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average.
  • Sophomore Daniel Duris seems to have taken the reigns between the pipes starting two of the first three games of the season after making four starts as a freshman last season. Freshman Carter Bickle has also seen a start between the pipes this season, a 3-2 loss to Canisius.
  • The Sharks have struggled early this season on special teams with just two powerplay goals in 10 chances while allowing four in 11 chances on the other end to rank sixth-worst on the PK out of teams that have played so far this season killing just 63.6 percent of the opponent chances.

EVERYDAY A STAR IS BORN

  • For the second-straight week a Nittany Lion has been named the B1G First Star as sophomore JJ Wiebusch earned his first career weekly accolade following a five-goal, six-point weekend against Clarkson.
  • Wiebusch became the first Nittany Lion all-time to light the lamp four times in a game as he did against the Golden Knights last Thursday. With six goals through the opening four games of the season Wiebusch currently leads the nation and has scored at least one goal in three-straight games with points in all four games so far this season, including three multi-point efforts.
  • Wiebusch now has 15 goals in his last 13 games dating back to last season including a hat-trick and a four-goal game.
  • With 10 points on the season Wiebusch ranks second in the nation only one point shy of teammate Charlie Cerrato’s 11 points.
  • Three of his six goals this season are on the powerplay to tie for the national lead through the first two weeks of the season. For his career, Wiebusch now has eight man-advantage tallies just one shy of cracking the all-time top-10 at Penn State.

SORRY, CHARLIE

  • Sophomore Charlie Cerrato currently leads the nation with 11 points and eight assists through four games following a five-point weekend against Clarkson. Cerrato has three multi-point games in his first four this season.
  • Dating back to the end of last season, Cerrato has at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games with 28 points over that span including 22 assists and nine multi-point efforts.

NITTANY LION SPECIAL

  • Penn State has opened the season with strong special teams play going 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) on the man-advantage with at least one PPG in each contest.
  • The PK unit is also off to a hot start going 20-for-21 (95.2 percent) in the first two weeks and has killed off 18-straight including an extended 5-on-3 in the third period two weeks ago and a five-minute major last week.
  • The unit also has two shorthanded goals to rank tied for second, one behind Michigan, after finishing the 2024-25 season with a Big Ten best eight, the third most in a single-season in program history.

GO SHORTY

  • Junior captain Dane Dowiak registered the game-winning, shorthanded goal last Friday against Clarkson marking the third shorthanded goal of his career, tying Dylan Richard ‘17 for the fifth-most in Penn State history. Current assistant coach Andrew Sturtz holds the SHG record with nine for his career.
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CHASING HISTORY

  • Junior Aiden Fink has registered at least one point in each game this season and now has 93 for his career to tie Danny Dzhaniyev for 10th on the Penn State all-time scoring list.
  • Fink is now just seven points shy of the century mark in just 78 total games as he looks to become the fastest Nittany Lion to 100 career points all-time, currently held by Alex Limoges who reached that milestone in his 102nd career game.
  • The junior’s 39 career goals are also just two shy of Brando Biro ‘20 for 10th on the all-time list while his 54 assists are just two back of Evan Barratt for 10th all-time.

BOUNCE BACK BONE

  • Senior Ben Schoen took a five-minute major early in the second period last Friday with Penn State trailing 2-0, however, the Nittany Lions killed the penalty and immediately after exiting the box Schoen corralled a loose puck and skated coast-to-coast ripping a shot from the slot into the back of the net for the first of five-unanswered goals by the Nittany Lions and a comeback victory.
  • Schoen scored his second of the night to cap the scoring and collect the second multi-goal game of his career and first since January 22, 2022, during his freshman season.

NON-CONFERENCE DOMINATION

  • Penn State concluded its 2024-25 non-conference slate with an 9-1-0 record and is currently 3-1-0 to start this season.
  • Penn State has registered at least eight non-conference victories nine times and have a 76.2 percent all-time winning percentage in regular-season non-conference games since the Big Ten’s inception prior to the 2013-14 season.
  • The Nittany Lions are an eye-popping 56-8-1 in regular-season non-conference games since the start of the 2018-19 season including a 29-5-0 mark over the past three-plus seasons.

NEXT UP

Penn State remains home to conclude its six-game homestand with its first-ever contests against Stonehill next Friday and Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena.

For more information on the 2025-26 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.