DiMarsico’s Third Period Hat-Trick Lifts No. 5 Men's Hockey Past No. 14 Arizona State, 6-3DiMarsico’s Third Period Hat-Trick Lifts No. 5 Men's Hockey Past No. 14 Arizona State, 6-3

DiMarsico’s Third Period Hat-Trick Lifts No. 5 Men's Hockey Past No. 14 Arizona State, 6-3

Matt DiMarsico registers the 16th hat-trick in Penn State history, Charlie Cerrato ties a single-game program record with five points as No. 5 Penn State Defeats No. 14 Arizona State, 63.

Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. – Junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa) tallied a third period hat-trick including the game-winning tally while sophomore Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) registered a career-high five points as No. 5 Penn State used four unanswered goals over the final 20 minutes to down No. 14 Arizona State, 6-3, in non-conference action at Mullett Arena on Friday night.

The hat-trick for DiMarsico is the first of his career and the 16th all-time for the Nittany Lions, but just the second single-period hat-trick in program history joining Casey Bailey (1/9/15). It marks just the fourth road hat-trick for the Nittany Lions and is the first-ever in a season opener.

Cerrato’s five-point night ties a Nittany Lion single-game record joining current assistant coach Andrew Sturtz ‘20 (11/4/17) and Connor McMenamin ’23 (1/22/21).

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State (1-0-0) opened the scoring midway through the first period taking advantage of a powerplay as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) kept the puck in at the blueline before skating uncontested through the slot, faking the shot and dishing to a wide-open Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) below the right dot and he didn’t miss the yawning net for the 1-0 edge at the 10:05 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions doubled the lead heading into the break as Fink and McKenna set up Cerrato with a yawning net of his own at the near post for the 2-0 lead with just 33.7 ticks remaining in the opening frame.
  • Arizona State (0-1-0) cut the deficit in half near the midpoint of the second period taking advantage of a Nittany Lion losing an edge in the defensive zone, Sam Alfano picked up the loose puck and skated below the left dot uncontested before wiring a wrister past the glove of Penn State sophomore net-minder Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) for the 2-1 score at the 8:16 mark.
  • The Sun Devils took the lead with a pair of goals in just 44 seconds as a strange bouncing puck snuck past Reidler during the powerplay and then a shot he thought he collected in his pads crept over the goal line for the 3-2 score at the 15:19 mark. Sean McGurn and Logan Morrell credited with the goals.
  • Penn State responded early in the third period finding the equalizer as Cerrato slipped the puck back to DiMarsico at the near post and he snuck it through Sun Devil goaltender Connor Hasley for the 3-3 score at the 1:11 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions regained the lead halfway through the final frame as it was once again Cerrato finding DiMarsico, this time on an odd-man rush and the latter one-timed the puck past Hasley for the 4-3 edge at the 8:04 mark.
  • The visitors extended the lead late during a powerplay with Cerrato becoming the beneficiary of some crisp passing as he outwaited the goaltender shifting across the crease before slotting one home for the 5-3 advantage at 18:07 of the third period.
  • DiMarsico then hit the empty net off a feed from classmate Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) with just 71 ticks remaining to account for the 6-3 final.

GOALTENDING

Reidler secured his first win as a Nittany Lion turning aside 35 shots in the victory to improve to 1-0-0 on the year while Hasley drops to 0-1-0 after making 40 saves in the setback.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the 47-38 edge in shots on goal while going 2-for-5 on the man-advantage. ASU was 1-for-6 on the powerplay for the game.
  • Penn State has now won seven of its last eight season openers including five-straight following Friday night’s victory.
  • Both Cerrato and DiMarsico secured their first multi-goal games of the season and the third each of their careers.
  • For Cerrato his career high in points marks his first multi-point effort of the season and the 16th of his career while his three assists tie his career high.
  • DiMarsico also secures his first multi-point effort and the 13th of his career with his three goals.
  • With one goal and two assists, Fink secures his first multi-point effort of the season and the 25th of his career and he is now just two goals shy of Brandon Biro ’20 for 10th on the all-time goal list at Penn State with 39 now for his career while his 90 career points rank just three back of Danny Dzhaniyev ’25 for 10th on the all-time scoring list.
  • With a pair of primary helpers, McKenna secures his first collegiate points and his first multi-point contest.
  • Wiebusch collected three assists on the night tying his career high while registering his first multi-point effort of the season and the ninth of his career rounding out five different Nittany Lions with multi-point nights.

NEXT UP

Both teams return ton Mullett Arena tomorrow to wrap up the series with a 5 p.m. local time start, 8 p.m. EST. The game will air on NHL Network and be streamed on the NHL’s Youtube page.

For more information on the 2025-26 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.