Penn State men’s hockey (8-9-1, 1-8-1 Big Ten) defeated Notre Dame (6-13-1, 1-10-1 Big Ten) 3-0 at Compton Family Ice Arena in game two of its series with the Fighting Irish.

The Nittany Lions returned to action after their heartbreaking loss in Chicago and notched their elusive first win in conference play this season. Once again, Arsenii Sergeev was brilliant as the goalie recorded a 34-save shutout in his first win since October 26. Charlie Cerrato continued his stellar freshman campaign with a pair of goals, while Danny Dzhaniyev also found the back of the net.

How It Happened

Still searching for their first win in Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions came out of the gates flying and notched a handful of grade-A scoring chances in the game’s opening minutes. Dzhaniyev had the best one of the bunch, as the forward dashed up the right side of the ice on a partial breakaway and fired a wrist shot that was saved by the chest of Owen Say.

Penn State continued to pin the Fighting Irish in their zone as the period approached the halfway point. Once again, Dzhaniyev nearly opened the scoring with a deflection off of a Cade Christenson shot from the blue line, but the puck fluttered just over the crossbar, and Notre Dame cleared the zone.

After the extended dominance from the Nittany Lions to open the first period, Notre Dame flipped the script of the period and began to pepper Sergeev with scoring chances. The Penn State goalie continued his strong play from Thursday night and held the Fighting Irish off of the scoreboard.

Notre Dame was awarded the first power play of the evening after Aiden Fink sat for tripping with six minutes to go in the opening period. Cole Knuble had the lone scoring chance in tight on Sergeev, but the goaltender made the save, and the Nittany Lions successfully killed the remainder of the penalty.

Just one minute after the penalty to Fink expired, Penn State headed to the power play after Jayden Davis tripped Cerrato at the Penn State end of the ice. On the ensuing man advantage, Matt DiMarsico delivered a nice pass to the slot, where JJ Wiebusch took the puck and fired a wrist shot that beat Say but rang off the far post and allowed Notre Dame to clear the puck and finish off its penalty kill.

Wiebusch delivered another fantastic scoring chance just before the final horn of the period, as the forward rushed in on Say and forced the goaltender to make a shoulder save.

As it did in the first period, Penn State came out of the locker room hot and was rewarded for its efforts. Charlie Cerrato skated up the left side of the ice and fired a wicket wrist shot past Say just inside the far post to give the Nittany Lions the lead. DiMarsico and Casey Aman recorded the assists.

Snipe you very much!! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/FCWWs6HC8s

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 5, 2025

Twenty-seven seconds later, the Nittany Lions struck again. This time, Danny Dzhaniyev took the puck away from a Notre Dame skater and carried the puck behind the Notre Dame net. He skated into the high slot, where the forward fired a wrist shot over the glove of Say to double the Penn State advantage.

Whoopsies!! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/vofhKLRLbG

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 5, 2025

Notre Dame had an opportunity to get momentum back after it was awarded its second power play of the game four minutes into the middle period, as Wiebusch took a defensive-zone hooking penalty. The Nittany Lions delivered another strong penalty kill and surrendered just one shot before returning to full strength.

Shortly after its successful kill, Penn State headed back to the penalty kill as it took a bench minor for too many men on the ice. The Fighting Irish found slightly more success on this edition of their power play, but Sergeev stopped the three shots thrown his way, and the teams returned to five-on-five.

With four minutes remaining, Penn State took its third penalty of the period as Christenson tripped Knuble in the defensive zone. Halfway through the penalty, Ian Murphy was called for checking from behind, which led to just over one minute of four-on-four hockey before an abbreviated Penn State power play.

The Nittany Lions could not convert on its abbreviated power play, and the teams returned to full strength with just over one minute remaining in the period. With 12 seconds left, DiMarscio and Ryan Helliwell both sat for roughing penalties, but DiMarsico took an additional goaltender interference penalty that sent Penn State back to the penalty kill.

Dane Dowiak blocked an Axel Kumlin shot from the point, and the final buzzer of the period sounded with one minute and 48 seconds of power play time remaining for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame could not convert on its power play to open the final period of play, as Sergeev once again made the necessary saves to hold the Fighting Irish off of the scoreboard.

After its successful penalty kill, Penn State nearly took a three-goal lead off of the stick of Aiden Fink, who fired a wrist shot from the right circle that rang off of the outside of the near post. Notre Dame promptly cleared the zone after the scoring chance to avoid further trouble.

Already with one goal in the game, Cerrato expanded Penn State’s lead to three after Fink made an outstanding stretch pass to the freshman. Cerrato skated in on Say and faked a wrist shot, only to slide the puck in between the legs of the Fighting Irish goaltender and into the back of the net just over six minutes in. Sergeev recorded the secondary assist.

What an absolute beauty of a pass from Finker, smooth finish by Chuck and the second apple in two games for Arsi!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/Q5E55NStJS

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 5, 2025

The Nittany Lions continued to control play as the period reached its halfway point, with Say making a few key saves to keep Notre Dame down by just three goals.

Searching for three goals to tie the game, Notre Dame pulled the goalie Say with just five minutes remaining in regulation. With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Henry Nelson took a slashing penalty and sent Penn State back to the power play. The final horn sounded just before the official end to the Nittany Lions’ man advantage, and Penn State secured its 3-0 victory.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions recorded their first win in Big Ten play on Thursday after they fell in a shootout during game one of their series against the Fighting Irish, and finally recorded the elusive first victory in Big Ten play tonight. With the win, Penn State is now out of the basement in the conference standings.
• Penn State’s penalty kill had experienced some slight regression to the mean after its torrid start to the season, but tonight, that group looked as good as it had all year. The Nittany Lions were a perfect six-for-six on the kill and surrendered only a handful of true scoring chances.
• In what has been an up-and-down start to the season for Penn State, one of the lone consistent bright spots for this team has been the freshman, Cerrato. He scored two of the three Penn State goals, bringing his season total to eight, with 15 points overall in the 18 games he has played.
• After an outstanding effort in his first game back from injury on Thursday at Wrigley Field, Sergeev was brilliant in the goaltender’s first win since late October. He saved all 34 shots thrown his way and made some dazzling saves en route to his second shutout of the season.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will return to Pegula Ice Arena to open a six-game homestand, starting with a two-game series against Michigan State. Puck drop for game one is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, January 10.