Reidler Strong, Powerplay Clicks as No. 5 Men's Hockey Downs Minnesota, 2-1Reidler Strong, Powerplay Clicks as No. 5 Men's Hockey Downs Minnesota, 2-1

Reidler Strong, Powerplay Clicks as No. 5 Men's Hockey Downs Minnesota, 2-1

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Sophomore Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) stopped 23-of-24 shots and the powerplay converted twice as No. 5 Penn State hung on to defeat Minnesota, 2-1, in Big Ten Conference action at 3M Arena on Saturday evening.

The Nittany Lions move to 11-5-0 overall and 4-4-0 in conference action with the victory while the Gophers fall to 6-9-1 on the year and 3-3-0 in Big Ten play with the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Gophers opened the scoring with a powerplay goal as LJ Mooney danced between the rings and found Tanner Ludtke wide-open below the right dot and he had a yawning net to shoot at for the 1-0 edge at 9:23 of the first period.
  • The Nittany Lions evened the score with a man-advantage tally of their own late in the second period as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) fed sophomore Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) for a one-timer above the right dot and he did not miss going shortside high on Minnesota net-minder Nathan Airey for the 1-1 score at the 14:32 mark.
  • Penn State took the lead early in the third period with a second powerplay tally as sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) sent a beautiful seam pass right on the tape of freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) and his one-timer didn’t miss for the 2-1 edge just 66 ticks into the final frame.

GOALTENDING

Reidler moves to 6-3-0 on the year after his 23-save performance in the win while Airey falls to 3-5-1 overall after stopping 27 shots in the loss.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the 29-24 edge in shots on goal while going a perfect 2-for-2 on the powerplay as Minnesota went 1-for-2 on the man-advantage.
  • The powerplay goals for the Nittany Lions snapped an 0-for-17 streak that stretched over the past five-plus games.
  • The victory also snaps and eight-game losing streak against the Gophers at 3M Arena for Penn State.
  • McKenna assisted on all three of the Nittany Lion goals this weekend including a pair of primary helpers as he increases his rookie scoring lead to 18 points while his 14 assists are also tops among freshmen nationally.
  • Cerrato’s second period goal snapped a nine-game goalless streak for the sophomore while Wiebusch’s primary apple on Smith’s game-winning goal snapped a five-game pointless streak of his own.

NEXT UP

Penn State is now off until January a full 41 days for the holidays before resuming play with a home-and-home against RIT on January 3-4.

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.