Penn State men’s hockey came home from Connecticut without a win, but two freshmen gave head coach Guy Gadowsky reasons for optimism.

“Very impressive, both of them,” Gadowsky said of Kale Dach and Justin Larose.

Dach and Larose combined for three goals and two assists at the Ice Breaker Tournament, accounting for three of Penn State’s four goals on the opening weekend. Each had a goal and an assist Saturday.

Dach opened his collegiate career by scoring Penn State’s only goal in Friday’s 3-1 loss to No. 16 UConn. He roofed a backhand shot toward the middle of the second period after a pass from Justin Poirier. He also scored Saturday again at Sacred Heart.

Dach was quick to share the credit.

“My goal was a team effort,” Dach said. “My friend here [Larose] made an incredible play, used his talent to make a good dump, and JP [Poirier] just worked hard to go get the puck and give it to me.”

Gadowsky said Dach’s value goes beyond his production in games.

“He has been a very reliable player, and that’s what I think makes him special,” Gadowsky said. “Not just the fact that he finishes; it’s really his play all over the place.”

Larose scored 21 seconds after Dach against Sacred Heart, and he did it with a “Michigan.”

“That was spectacular. I mean, that was spectacular,” Gadowsky said of Larose’s goal. “We’ve seen one other goal like that a number of years ago, and to watch [Larose] doing it was really fun to watch.”

The freshmen weren’t the weekend’s only bright spots.

Penn State outshot UConn 43-25 on Friday, but Huskies goaltender Kam Hendrickson stopped 42 of 43 shots. A would-be Poirier equalizer in the third period was also overturned for goaltender interference.

The Nittany Lions also killed all six penalties they faced over the weekend, while the power play went scoreless on four tries.

Sacred Heart outshot Penn State 40-25 and led 3-0 after two periods, despite 34 saves from freshman goaltender Ryder Fetterolf in his debut.

“We have a lot of new players in college hockey this year,” Gadowsky said. “[Being ready to compete] has to be a standard, and it wasn’t there. So hopefully, we learned a lesson.”

The losses snapped Penn State’s five-game opening-night winning streak. The Nittany Lions are 0-2 for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2020-21.

It was also Sacred Heart’s first win over Penn State. The Nittany Lions still lead the all-time series 6-1-0.

Penn State also lost Keaton Peters to injury, stripping the lineup of a vital piece in the faceoff department.

“In my mind, it has to be collective,” Gadowsky said. “That’s another area that we just have to, as a committee, overcome.”

Penn State hosts No. 8 Quinnipiac in its home opener at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday at 7 p.m.