UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 8 Quinnipiac used six-straight goals to erase an early multi-goal deficit and defeat Penn State, 6-3, in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions (0-3-0) opened the scoring for the first time this season as freshman Justin Larose snuck behind the defense and had a breakaway from center ice in after junior Nick Fascia poked the puck through the defense right on his tape, Larose then went forehand, backhand roof for the 1-0 edge at 4:36 of the first period.
- Penn State doubled its lead as senior Mac Gadowsky settled a bouncing puck between the circles and ripped a wrister past the glove of Bobcat goaltender Christian Kirsch for the 2-0 margin at the 9:53 mark.
- Quinnipiac (4-1-0) cut the deficit in half taking advantage of its third man-advantage of the first period as Antonin Verreault slipped in a rebound at the far post after back-to-back chances from Chris Pelosi were turned aside by PSU sophomore net-minder Josh Fleming at the 11:02 mark.
- The Bobcats then evened the contest as Ethan Wyttenbach snuck behind the defense and skated across the crease lifting a backhander over the pad of Fleming for the 2-2 score at 13:22 of the opening frame.
- The visitors then tallied their third-straight goal and second powerplay goal and Aaron Schwartz and Mason Marcellus split the Nittany Lion defense and the later finished into a yawning net after the two passed the puck back and forth for the 3-2 advantage with just 52 ticks left in the first frame.
- Quinnipiac continued to add powerplay markers as Jack Stockfish ripped a one-timer from the point for the 4-2 lead at 6:02 of the middle stanza.
- Markus Vidicek pushed the margin to 5-2 with just 14.6 seconds remaining in the second period as he was the beneficiary of a yawning net after a fantastic passing sequence from Wyttenbach and Marcellus.
- The Bobcats secured another powerplay goal as Graham Sward picked the corner from between the circles for the 6-2 advantage at 10:41 of the third period.
- Penn State ended the streak of six-straight Quinnipiac goals as sophomore Luke Misa skated coast-to-coast and deposited his own rebound off the pad of Kirsch for the 6-3 deficit at the 12:57 mark.
GOALTENDING
Fleming drops to 0-2-0 on the year after making 40 saves in the loss while Kirsch improves to 3-0-0 this season after stopping 30-of-33 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- Penn State opens the season 0-3-0 for just the second time in the 15-year NCAA Division I era and first since the Covid season of 2020-21.
- Quinnipiac held the commanding 46-13 edge in shots on goal while going 4-for-7 on the powerplay. Misa’s goal was the first man-advantage tally of the season for the Nittany Lions as they finished the night 1-for-4 on the powerplay.
- The Bobcats are now 2-0-0 all-time against the Nittany Lions with both games coming in the past three seasons.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains home as its four-game homestand rolls along with a single contest against Robert Morris on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
For more information on the 2026-27 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.