No. 4 seed Penn State men’s hockey will face No. 1 seed Maine in the Allentown Region in the NCAA Regionals at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28, at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Maine comes into the tournament with a 24-7-6 regular season record, most recently winning the Hockey East Tournament. This will be the first-ever matchup between the two teams.

This is the Nittany Lions’ first time playing in the NCAA Tournament since 2023, when they lost 2-1 in overtime to Michigan, sending the Wolverines to the Frozen Four.

The Nittany Lions enter the NCAA Tournament after a 20-13-4 regular season record and most recently lost 4-3 to Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The beginning of the season was rough for the Nittany Lions, with the team not winning a Big Ten game until the New Year against Notre Dame. Head coach Guy Gadowsky and the team turned the season around, with notable wins against top-ranked Michigan State and Minnesota.

 If the Nittany Lions win, they’ll play the winner of the Uconn-Quinnipiac game at 4:30/7 p.m. on Sunday, March 30. If the Nittany Lions win their next two games, they will earn a trip to the 2025 Men’s Frozen Four in St. Louis, Missouri.