Records Fall as No. 6 Men's Hockey Drops Ohio State, 11-4Records Fall as No. 6 Men's Hockey Drops Ohio State, 11-4

Records Fall as No. 6 Men's Hockey Drops Ohio State, 11-4

Freshman Gavin McKenna sets Penn State single-game point and assist records in blowout victory

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) set single-game program records for points (8) and assists (7) as No. 6 Penn State bested Ohio State, 11-4, in Big Ten Conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

McKenna’s seven assists are also a Big Ten record while his eight points are tied for the second-most in a single game by a member of a Big Ten team and are tied for most in conference history since the league’s inception in 2013.

The 11 goals tie a single-game program record and are the most the Nittany Lions have ever scored in a Big Ten game surpassing the nine registered against Notre Dame back on December 8, 2018.

Penn State moves to 19-9-1 and 11-7-1 in Big Ten play with the victory while the Buckeyes fall to 11-17-1 on the year and 7-12-0 in conference action following the loss.

The win is the 250th in program history and the 423rd all-time for head coach Guy Gadowsky as he ranks eighth among active coaches and 28th all-time.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the scoring with a pair of powerplay goals at the midpoint of the first period as McKenna set up junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) for a one-timer and he ripped it shortside from the left circle for the 1-0 edge at the 9:05 mark.
  • McKenna then wired one of his own with a wrister through traffic from the slot for the 2-0 advantage at 10:20 of the first period.
  • The Buckeyes responded with a man-advantage tally of their own as Felix Caron picked the corner from the slot for the 2-1 deficit at the 13:52 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions regained the two-goal margin with a third powerplay tally early in the second period as McKenna ripped a one-timer from the right circle that hit off junior Matt DiMarsico’s (Wexford, Pa.) shoulder and bounded past OSU net-minder Kristoffer Eberly for the 3-1 score at the 2:31 mark.
  • The hosts kept the pressure on as sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) slipped in a rebound after DiMarsico’s wrap around attempt was thwarted for the 4-1 advantage just 63 ticks later, ending the night for Eberly.
  • Caron scored his second of the game against the run of play just 80 seconds after to cut the lead to 4-2, however, Penn State responded scoring twice in just 1:25 to extend the lead to 6-2 as freshman Shea Van Olm (Calgary, Alberta) wristed one home off the rush at the 6:23 mark before classmate Luke Misa (Oakville, Ontario) was provided a yawning net by McKenna and he didn’t miss at 7:48 of the second period.
  • Just 16 seconds after the Misa goal, the Buckeyes fought back as Davis Burnside intercepted a center ice offering and skated in uncontested beating Nittany Lion freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) past the glove for the 6-3 deficit at 8:04 of the second stanza.
  • Penn State then scored twice over the final 3:05 of the middle frame to take an 8-3 lead into the intermission as McKenna picked off a pass at the offensive blue line before saucing a backhand pas to Van Olm and he beat Buckeye netminder Sam Hillebrandt five-hole at the 16:55 mark before DiMarsico slotted home his second off the game on the rush with a feed from Wiebusch at 19:09.
  • The hosts continued the pressure as Misa notched his second of the game as he redirected a point shot from DiMarsico past Buckeye netminder Sam Hillebrandt for the 9-3 lead at 7:09 of the third period.
  • Adam Eisele scored for the Buckeyes at 13:25 of the third period, however, a pair of late powerplay goals for the Nittany Lions just 44 seconds apart from freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) and junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) in the final four minutes of the game accounted for the 11-4 final.

GOALTENDING

Fleming improves to 9-4-1 after making 38 saves in the victory while Hillebrandt is handed the loss after giving up seven goals and making just 12 saves over the final 36:26 after coming in relief of Eberly who stopped 15-of-19 shots over the opening 23:31.

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NOTES

  • Ohio State held the, 42-38, edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-3 on the man-advantage. Penn State went a perfect 5-for-5 on the powerplay in the game notching five PPG’s for the first time in over 10 years dating back to an 8-2 victory over Sacred Heart on November 13, 2015.
  • The six second period goals are the most the Nittany Lions have ever scored in a single-period in program history.
  • Fink’s five points (1G, 4A) are a season-high and new career-best as he secures his eighth multi-point effort of the season and the 32nd of his career.
  • The goal for Fink was the 44th of his career as he moves into a tie with David Goodwin ’17 for eighth on the Penn State all-time goals list while his 114 points are now just one shy of Denis Smirnov ‘ 20 for sixth. Fink’s 70 assists move him into fifth all-time as a Nittany Lion surpassing Smirnov and Chase Berger ’19.
  • McKenna’s eight-point showing marks his 11th multi-point game of the season while Smith collected a pair of assists to go along with his goal to tie his career-high in points and assists while securing his sixth multi-point game of the season.
  • Smith’s 22 points on the season are now tied with assistant coach Vince Pedrie for the eighth-most by a Nittany Lion defenseman all-time and the most by a rookie all-time as Pedrie also finished his freshman season in 2015-16 with 22 points.
  • McKenna becomes just the third Nittany Lion all-time to eclipse the 40-point mark as a freshman as his 41 points are the third-most by a rookie all-time and rank as the seventh-most in a single-season among all players. His 41 points are now tied for the Big Ten lead among freshmen and second among rookies nationally.
  • McKenna’s 29 assists are a new Penn State single-season record for a freshman and are good for the second-most all-time behind Fink’s 30 from last season.
  • With a pair of goals and two assists, DiMarsico secures his fourth multi-goal game of the season and the sixth of his career while notching his ninth multi-point game of the season and the 21st of his career. The four points tie his career-high while his 17 goals also tie his career-best from last season and are tied for the ninth-most in a single-season in program history.
  • DiMarsico and Smith now each have seven powerplay goals on the season to tie for the second-most in a single-season all-time, trailing only Fink who potted eight powerplay goals in each of his first two seasons in Hockey Valley.
  • With 96 career points, DiMarsico surpassed Evan Barratt and stands alone in 10th on the Penn State all-time scoring list while his 41 goals are now tied with Brandon Biro ’20 for 10th.
  • Van Olm secured his first multi-goal and multi-point game of the season in one fell swoop with his two goals while Misa also secured his first multi-goal game of the season while notching his fourth multi-point game as he tied his career-best with three points.
  • With one goal and one assist, Wiebusch collects his 10th multi-point effort of the season and the 18th of his career.
  • Laubach now has goals in five of his last six games and has scored in three-straight games for just the second time in his career. The junior also secured his third multi-point game of the season and the 16th of his career by adding an assist.

NEXT UP

Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow night to conclude the season series with an 8 p.m. puck drop 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.