No. 5 Men's Hockey Erases Three-Goal Deficit, Ties Notre Dame, 3-3, Wins ShootoutNo. 5 Men's Hockey Erases Three-Goal Deficit, Ties Notre Dame, 3-3, Wins Shootout

No. 5 Men's Hockey Erases Three-Goal Deficit, Ties Notre Dame, 3-3, Wins Shootout

Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) scored twice as No. 5 Penn State erased an early three-goal deficit to earn a 3-3 tie against Notre Dame in Big Ten Conference action at Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday evening.

Freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) then potted the lone goal in a three-round shootout while classmate Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) stopped all three Irish shooters to secure the extra point with the 1-0 victory.

Penn State moves to 20-9-2 overall and 12-7-2 in Big Ten play following the tie while Notre Dame now sits at 6-22-5 on the year and 2-17-2 in conference play.

With his two goals, Fink now has 46 for his career moving past David Goodwin ‘17 and Casey Bailey for seventh on the Penn State all-time goals list while his 118 points are tied with Chase Berger ’19 for fourth all-time.

The Nittany Lions secured no less than the No. 3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament after gaining a pair of points on Friday night giving them 40 on the year, just one shy of the program record 41 points from the 2019-20 season.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Irish opened the scoring as Dashel Oliver redirected a point shot from Henry Nelson atop the goal crease and past Fleming for the 1-0 edge at 5:02 of the first period.
  • Notre Dame extended the lead with a pair of goals just 28 ticks apart as they first took advantage of a high turnover by Penn State and Will Belle skated in uncontested beating Fleming past the glove at the 13:54 mark before Cole Knuble fired a wrister shortside from the right dot for the 3-0 lead at 14:22 of the first period.
  • Penn State got one back late in the opening frame as junior Mac Gadowsky (State College, Pa.) knocked the puck out of the air at the blueline keeping it in the zone before finding freshman Shea Van Olm (Calgary, Alberta) wide open at the right dot and he wristed one past the blocker of Irish goaltender Nicholas Kempf and inside the far post for the 3-1 deficit at the 18:34 mark.
  • The visitors continued to chip away with another late period goal as McKenna set up junior Fink and he laced a wrister through the legs of an Irish defenseman and under the bar, far-side for the 3-2 deficit with just 56.6 ticks remaining in the middle frame.
  • The Nittany Lions kept the pressure on and pulled even early in the third period as Fink stole the puck at the defensive blue line and skated down far slot before beating Kempf through the five-hole for the 3-3 score at the 5:23 mark.
  • After an eventful, but scoreless, overtime session where Penn State outshot Notre Dame, 7-0, the game advanced into a shootout with McKenna going first and scoring the only goal needed to secure the extra Big Ten point.

GOALTENDING

Fleming stopped 33-of-36 shots including 26-straight to close out the game and move his record to 9-4-2 on the year while Kempf made 25 saves moving to 6-19-5 overall.

NOTES

  • Notre Dame held the, 36-28, edge in shots on goal while neither team converted on the powerplay with the Irish going 0-for-2 and Penn State 0-for-1.
  • Fink secures his second multi-goal game of the year and the 10th of his career while registering his 10th multi-point game of the season, third-straight, and the 34th of his career with his two goals.
  • Van Olm has now scored in three-straight games extending his career-best goal streak while also extending his now career-long point streak to three games. The rookie now has points in five of his last six games with five goals over that span.
  • McKenna extends his point streak to four games, one shy of his season long while his 31st assist of the season passes Aiden Fink’s total from last year for the single-season record. His 44 points this season break a tie with Evan Barratt and are good for the fourth-most in a single-season in Penn State history.
  • With a pair of assists, Gadowsky secure his second multi-point game of the season and the 18th of his career.
  • Penn State erased a three-goal deficit for the second-straight game and now has seven wins this season when trailing after two periods after not having a single victory in such games a season ago.
  • The Nittany Lions extend their scoring margin in the second and third periods to 92-53.

NEXT UP

The two teams return to Compton Family Ice Arena tomorrow night to close out the season series with a 6 p.m. puck drop set to be broadcast on Peacock.

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.