Penn State men’s hockey season came to a close in Albany, New York, in the NCAA Regional Semifinals against Minnesota-Duluth. The team started off strong with the opening goal, but slowly lost steam and lost the game 3-1. Our photographers were, of course, at MVP Arena to capture how it all went down.

The Nittany Lions started strong in Albany. Multiple players had early scoring chances, but Minnesota-Duluth goalie Adam Gajan stayed solid in goal. Finally, 9:37 into the game, Shea Van Olm got one past Gajan and into the net with both Casey Aman and Mac Gadowsky receiving assists on the play.

Although Penn State continued to fight, the tying goal came five minutes later by Max Plante to make it 1-1.

The team continued on in the second period, keeping the Bulldogs at bay. Charlie Cerrato went down and left the ice with an injury, but later would return to the ice and received cheers from the crowd. Neither team would score in the second, leaving the game 1-1 going into the third.

Going into the third, the Nittany Lions seemed to begin to slow down. Penn State had its first power play opportunity with 8:55 left in regulation, but was unable to capitalize. Minnesota-Duluth was able to gain the lead about three minutes later after a Gavin McKenna to Reece Laubach play was intercepted. With a little under two minutes left in the third, and hope to tie the game, Penn State pulled goalie Josh Fleming. Penn State was unable to take advantage of the extra-man advantage, and with 1.6 seconds left, Ty Hanson iced it with the empty-netter to make it 3-1.

Until next season, folks.

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