Top Line Powers No. 8 Men's Hockey to, 6-3, Victory and Series Sweep of Notre DameTop Line Powers No. 8 Men's Hockey to, 6-3, Victory and Series Sweep of Notre Dame

Top Line Powers No. 8 Men's Hockey to, 6-3, Victory and Series Sweep of Notre Dame

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) tallied a career-best three points including his first collegiate multi-goal game to lead No. 8 Penn State past Notre Dame, 6-3, in Big Ten Conference action to complete the weekend sweep at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

Penn State sees its winning streak move to five games as the Nittany Lions improve to 16-6-0 with the victory and 8-4-0 in Big Ten play moving into second place in the standings with 25 points. The Irish fall to 4-17-1 overall and 0-12-0 in conference action with the loss.

ND_F

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the scoring just 17 ticks into the game as senior Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) sent a stretch pass to sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) who beat his man down the far side of the ice and skated in uncontested before kissing a backhand off the near post and in for the 1-0 edge.
  • The Nittany Lions then extended the lead on a one-time bomb from the far point by freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta), also off a pass from Crespo, for the 2-0 advantage at 7:06 of the first period.
  • The Irish had a late burst in the opening frame to tie the score, 2-2, with a pair of goals just 15 seconds apart with under two minutes remaining in the period. Brennan Ali rang one off the post and in at the 18:24 mark and Cole Knuble took advantage of a defensive zone turnover by Penn State and roofed his own rebound as he was uncontested out front at the 18:39 mark.
  • Penn State regained the lead off the rush as Smith sent a beautiful cross-ice pass to McKenna and he used his quick release to beat Notre Dame net-minder Nicholas Kempf shortside over the shoulder for the 3-2 lead at 4:54 of the second period.
  • Notre Dame tied the score just past the midway point of the second period with a shorthanded tally as Sutter Muzzatti sniped bar-down at the far dot for the 3-3 score at the 11:11 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions once again regained the lead taking advantage of a 5-on-3 man-advantage as junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) deposited a rebound in the crease for the 4-3 advantage at 15:46 of the second period.
  • The hosts extended the lead midway through the final frame as McKenna netted his second of the evening after classmate Luke Misa’s (Oakville, Ontario) initial chance was turned aside for the 5-3 margin at the 10:57 mark.
  • Junior captain Dane Dowiak would then find the empty net for the second-consecutive night to seal the 6-3 victory with just 11.9 ticks left.

GOALTENDING

Nittany Lion sophomore net-minder Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) improves to 9-3-0 on the year after making 27 saves in the victory while his counterpart, Kempf, drops to 4-15-1 after stopping 29 shots in the defeat.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the 35-30 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-6 on the powerplay and a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
  • Penn State has now won five-straight against the Irish, the longest such streak of the series for either side.
  • Dowiak’s empty-net goal also came shorthanded giving him three shortys on the season to tie the Penn State single-season record while his five career shorthanded markers are now tied with Nate Sucese ’20 for second all-time and just four shy of assistant coach Andrew Sturtz’s record of nine.
  • Junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) tied his career-high with four points as he collected four secondary assists on the night to secure his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 29th of his career.
  • Fink also moved past Laim Folkes and assistant coach Andrew Sturtz and into sole possession of seventh on the Penn State all-time scoring list with 105 career points. His 65 career assists also move him into a tie with Denis Smirnov ’20 for sixth on the all-time assists list.
  • With a pair of assists, Crespo secures his fourth multi-point effort of the season and the seventh of his career. It is also his third multi-point game over his last five and his 11 points on the season are a new career-best surpassing the 10 he had as a freshman.
  • With one goal and one assist, Wiebusch collects his eighth multi-point effort of the season and the 16th of his career.
  • Smith’s sixth goal of the season is tied for the sixth-most in a single-season by a Nittany Lion defenseman all-time. He is now just two shy of the program record shared by four different Nittany Lions including assistant Coach Vince Pedrie who scored eight goals in each of his two seasons in Hockey Valley.
  • Smith added two assists for a career-best three points to secure his third multi-point game of the season.
  • Misa extended his career-long point streak to five games with a third period assist as he now has eight points (2G, 6A) in his last five games.
  • McKenna secured his eighth multi-point effort of the season following his career-best three-point performance.
  • The Nittany Lions improve to 10-1-0 when scoring first and an identical mark when leading after two periods of play this season.
  • Penn State is now 11-2-0 at Pegula Ice Arena this season.

NEXT UP

Penn State hits the road to battle No. 2 Wisconsin in a pair of crucial Big Ten Conference games next Friday and Saturday evening. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Friday and 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with the latter game airing nationally 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.