Semifinal Bound: Men's Hockey Advances Following, 6-2, Victory Over Minnesota in B1G QuarterfinalsSemifinal Bound: Men's Hockey Advances Following, 6-2, Victory Over Minnesota in B1G Quarterfinals

Semifinal Bound: Men's Hockey Advances Following, 6-2, Victory Over Minnesota in B1G Quarterfinals

Box Score
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) scored once while adding a pair of assists for three points and No. 10 and third-seeded Penn State defeated sixth-seeded Minnesota, 6-2, in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal action at Pegula Ice Arena on Wednesday evening.

Penn State improves to 21-12-2 overall with the victory while the Gophers conclude their season at 11-22-3.

The Nittany Lions advance to the semifinals for the second-straight year and the 10th time overall in the 13-year history of the Big Ten Conference, tying Minnesota for the second-most B1G semifinal appearances just one shy of Ohio State’s 11 after the Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin Wednesday night to advance themselves.

Penn State is now 17-14 in Big Ten Tournament play and improve to 5-1 on home ice. PSU is now a perfect 3-0 in the playoffs against Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena and 4-3 overall against the Gophers in the postseason after snapping a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night.

The Nittany Lions will face the No. 1 team in the nation in the second-seeded Michigan Wolverines in the first semifinal on Saturday evening with puck drop slated for 5 p.m. inside Yost Ice Arena. Penn State infamously ended the Wolverines season last year with a two-game sweep in Ann Arbor in the Big Ten quarterfinals eliminating Michigan from NCAA Tournament contention while punching their own ticket with the sweep.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Nittany Lions opened the scoring early with a strong forecheck to keep the puck in the zone and sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) found classmate Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) between the circles and he laced a wrister past the blocker of Gopher net-minder Luca Di Pasquo for the 1-0 edge at 3:10 of the first period.
  • Penn State extended the lead to a pair as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) slowed the entry over the blueline and found his trailer as junior Mac Gadowsky (State College, Pa.) blasted a one-timer into the back of the net from the right faceoff dot for the 2-0 advantage at 13:18 of the opening stanza.
  • The hosts doubled the lead near the midway point of the second period with a pair of goals under two minutes apart as junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) knifed through the slot and darted atop the crease before slipping the puck through the legs of Di Pasquo at the 7:56 mark. Junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) then had a yawning net to shoot at after senior Jarod Crespo’s (Seven Lakes, N.C.) initial shot was knocked down in front for the 4-0 margin at the 9:40 mark.
  • The Gophers answered with a goal against the run of play as Javon Moore intercepted a breakout pass in the offensive zone, turned and fired a shot that surprised Nittany Lion freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) and slipped through the five-hole for the 4-1 deficit at 16:34 of the middle frame.
  • McKenna then fed Fink at the left dot with a no-look turnaround pass from the far half wall and the junior waited before rifling a wicked wrister over the blocker of Di Pasquo for the 5-1 advantage at 7:56 of the third period.
  • Minnesota wouldn’t go away quietly as Jacob Rombach fired one through traffic from the point that redirected off a body and past Fleming for the 5-2 score at 15:06 of the final frame.
  • Sophomore Cade Christenson (Edmonton, Alberta) hit the empty net from 190 feet away to seal the 6-2 victory with just 1:40 remaining in the game.
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GOALTENDING

  • Fleming moves to 10-5-2 on the season after making 27 saves in the victory while Di Pasquo finishes the year 8-15-2 after stopping 34 shots in the loss.
  • Fleming joins sophomore Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) with double-digit victories marking the first time in Penn State history they have had two goaltenders reach 10 wins in the same season.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the, 40-29, edge in shots on goal while going a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Minnesota was not assessed a penalty all game keeping the potent Nittany Lion powerplay off the ice.
  • With one goal and one assist, DiMarsico becomes the 10th Nittany Lion all-time to hit 100 career points while registering his 10th multi-point game of the season and the 22nd of his career. His 42 career goals also break a tie with Brandon Biro ’20 for 11th on the Penn State all-time goals list.
  • Gadowsky skated in his 100th career NCAA contest this evening and scored his first goal as a member of the Nittany Lions.
  • With one goal and a pair of assists, junior Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) extends his season-long point streak to seven games, tying his career-long from last season. Following his 12th multi-point game of the season and the 36th of his career, Fink now stands at 125 career points, tying Alex Limoges ’21 for the third most in program history.
  • With a pair of assists, McKenna extends his career-long, point-streak to eight games while registering his 14th multi-point effort of the season. He also becomes just the third Nittany Lion to hit the 50-point mark in a single-season as he is now tied with Alex Limoges ’21 for the second-most points in a single-season in program history, just three shy of Fink’s program record from a season ago.
  • McKenna becomes the first-ever Nittany Lion freshman to hit the 50-point mark and is just the fifth Big Ten rookie to eclipse 50 points in a season since the league’s inception for the 2013-14 season.
  • Crespo also had a pair of assists to collect his fifth multi-point game of the season and the eighth of his career.
  • With one goal and one assist, Laubach secures his sixth multi-point game of the season and the 20th of his career.

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.