Penn State men’s hockey (2-1) fell short against No. 8 Quinnipiac (1-0) 3-2 in its first-ever matchup with the Bobcats.

Danny Dzhaniev and Ben Schoen had the goals for Penn State, and Arsenii Sergeev made 19 saves in the loss.

How It Happened

Penn State and Quinnipiac traded shots in the first 10 minutes of play, but neither team was able to solve the opposing goaltender.

Jeremy Wilmer opened the scoring for the Bobcats at 12:10 in the first period on a shot from Jeremy Wilmer that snuck past Sergeev. Aaron Schwartz had the lone assist.

Quinnipiac struck again just two minutes later after Andon Cerbone deflected a shot from the point off the stick of Travis Treloar. Cooper Moore recorded the secondary assist.

Penn State was awarded the first power play of the game at 18:43 of the period as Charlie Leddy was sent to the penalty box for tripping. The Nittany Lions couldn’t solve the stout Bobcats power play before the end of the period and had 43 seconds of carry-over time into the second period.

Despite the carry-over time, Penn State could not capitalize on the man advantage, and the teams returned to even strength. Just 25 seconds after the penalty to Leddy expired, Wilmer deflected a shot off the stick of Davis Pennington over the blocker of Sergeev to extend the Quinnipiac lead to three.

Jason Gallucci was sent to the box at 1:54 of the second period to send the Bobcats to the power play. Continuing a theme from the team’s series against Alaska, the Nittany Lions successfully killed the penalty.

Schwartz nearly extended the Bobcats’ lead to four on a backhanded shot from the slot, but Sergeev stuck out his right pad to save the puck with his toe to keep the Penn State deficit at three. Shortly after, Reese Laubach had a nice chance off the rush but Matej Marinov made the save.

The Nittany Lions were awarded their second power play of the evening at 11:09 after Mason Marcellus was sent to the box for hooking. Aside from a scoring chance off the stick of JJ Wiebusch, Penn State could not sustain pressure and its power play expired.

After some back-and-forth play from the teams, Quinnipiac went on its second power play, with Nicolas DeGraves being sent to the penalty box for a faceoff violation at 16:50. Penn State was once again called for a penalty at 18:31 with Dane Dowiak being sent to the box for d a delay of game call. The Nittany Lions killed the remainder of the DeGraves penalty, with Quinnipiac taking a penalty of its own to wipe out the remaining power play.

The remaining minute of the period ticked away, and the teams will begin the third period playing four-on-four hockey.

Penn State received an abbreviated power play after the Dowiak penalty expired, and the Nittany Lions cashed in. Schoen scooped up a loose puck in front of the net and fired a shot past Marinov to cut the Quinnipiac lead to two just 59 seconds into the final period.

Finally, with some momentum after the Schoen goal, Penn State was awarded another power play at 2:01 of the period as Jack Ricketts was called for hooking. The Nittany Lions controlled the zone for much of the second half of the power play, but Quinnipiac killed the remainder of the penalty.

The Nittany Lions struck again with just over six minutes gone in the final period as Dzhaniev took a loose puck and fired a wrap-around into an open net to trim Penn State’s deficit to one. Fink and Jarod Crespo accounted for the assists.

Much of the next 10 minutes of play was spent in the neutral zone, with the lone scoring chance coming off the stick of Crespo.

Penn State pulled Sergeev with just under one minute left in the contest, but the Nittany Lions were unable to score the tying goal, and the Bobcats held on for their first victory of the year.

Takeaways

• Through two periods, it seemed as if the Nittany Lions were headed for a blowout loss, but they battled back to make things interesting in the opening minutes of the third period. Penn State took it to the Bobcats for much of the final frame, an encouraging sign for the remainder of the year.
• Penn State’s penalty kill was once again outstanding tonight, as the Nittany Lions were 3-3 on the penalty kill.
• Quinnipiac is breaking in a roster of young players, but this is still a program with a championship pedigree, and the Nittany Lions nearly went on the road and defeated the 2023 national champions.

What’s Next

Penn State men’s hockey will return to Pegula Ice Arena for a matchup with St. Lawrence on Friday, October 25. A game time has yet to be announced.