Penn State men’s hockey rallied back to beat Minnesota 6-5 Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena, advancing to next Saturday’s Big Ten semifinals.

Freshman center Evan Barratt scored two goals in the victory, including the decisive backhander with 8:06 to play. Penn State is now 5-1 against the Golden Gophers this season, outscoring them 27-18.

How It Happened

Senior defenseman Trevor Hamilton scored his sixth goal of the season just 16 seconds into the game, unleashing a rocket of a slap shot past goaltender Eric Schierhorn. Andrew Sturtz notched his team-leading 40th point of the year on the play, while Chase Berger was also credited with an assist.

Liam Folkes made it 2-0 Nittany Lions with 6:59 to go in the first period by cleaning up a close-range goal. Sophomore center Brett Murray was ejected a minute before the first intermission due to making contact with the head of a Minnesota player.

After scoring twice in Friday night’s 5-3 loss to the Nittany Lions, Casey Mittelstadt cut Penn State’s lead to 2-1 with 17:54 left in the second period. Two minutes later, Barratt tallied his 10th goal of the season to give the Nittany Lions some breathing room.

Jack Ramsey, Rem Pitlick, and Scott Reedy gave the Golden Gophers their first lead of the night with consecutive goals, but senior captain James Robinson responded to knot the score once more, 4-4.

Reedy scored again to open the third period, but Brandon Biro answered with a goal of his own to bring the house down. Tensions were high between both teams, with a handful of players earning roughing penalties. Barratt sealed the deal for the Nittany Lions after corralling his own rebound and beating Schierhorn.

Player of the Game

Evan Barratt | Freshman | Center

The Bristol, PA, native and Chicago Blackhawks draft pick finished with two goals and an assist.

What’s Next?

As the lowest-seeded advancing team, the Nittany Lions (18-13-5) will face the Big Ten regular season champions, Notre Dame, next Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in South Bend. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated Penn State will play Michigan in the next round. We apologize for the error.