No. 9 Men's Hockey Secures First-Ever Shutout Against Minnesota, 3-0No. 9 Men's Hockey Secures First-Ever Shutout Against Minnesota, 3-0

No. 9 Men's Hockey Secures First-Ever Shutout Against Minnesota, 3-0

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) stopped all 27 shots he faced as No. 9 Penn State earns its first-ever shutout against Minnesota with a, 3-0, victory in Big Ten Conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

Penn State moves to 13-6-0 with the victory and 5-4-0 in Big Ten play while the Gophers fall to 8-11-1 overall and 4-5-0 in conference action with the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the scoring early in the first period as freshman Luke Misa (Oakville, Ontario) redirected a point shot from senior Carter Schade (Mars, Pa.) inside the near post for the 1-0 edge at the 5:13 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions doubled the margin on a quick transition play by junior Mac Gadowsky (State College, Pa.) as he played the puck down in the neutral zone to start the rush and Misa dropped a pass back to sophomore Cade Christenson (Edmonton, Alberta) who sniped a one-timer past the blocker of Gopher net-minder Luca Di Pasquo for the 2-0 advantage at 12:28 of the first period.
  • The hosts continued the pressure in the second period and were rewarded with just 5.6 ticks remaining as junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) slipped a rebound into a yawning net for the 3-0 lead after classmate Reese Laubach’s (San Jose, Calif.) initial bid hit the post.
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GOALTENDING

  • Fleming was perfect stopping all 27 shots he faced for his second career shutout to improve to 6-3-0 on the year while Di Pasquo drops to 5-5-0 overall after making 37 saves.
  • The shutout marks the first conference blanking for the Nittany Lions since a 2-0 win at Wisconsin last February and it is the first Big Ten shutout at Pegula Ice Arena since a 3-0 victory over Michigan on November 4, 2022.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the commanding 40-27 edge in shots on goal while each team went 0-for-1 on the man-advantage.
  • With one goal and one assist, Misa secures the first multi-point game of his career as he registers a career-best two points.
  • Christenson now has goals in back-to-back games for the second time in his career dating back to February 8 and 14 of last year.
  • Penn State is now 12-12-1 all-time against Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena.
  • The Nittany Lions improve to 8-1-0 when scoring first this season and are now 7-1-0 when leading after two periods.

NEXT UP

The two teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to conclude the season series with another 6 p.m. puck drop on the B1G Network.

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.