University Park, Pennsylvania – junior ryan kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) No. 7 Minnesota tied No. 18 Penn State with three points, including two goals, to lead No. 18 to a 6-3 victory and a series split in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening. We played against the state. Pegula Ice Arena.
With this win, Penn State improved to 9-5-3 overall in conference play and 2-3-3, 0-2, while the Gophers improved to 8-5-3 on the year, 4-4. It dropped to 2 minutes and 1 second. 0-0 in Big Ten action.
how did it happen
- Penn State scored two goals in a span of 54 seconds midway through the first period, giving Penn State a four-game scoring lead as a freshman. Reese Laubach (San Jose, California) Senior changes shot direction from point. jimmy dowd jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) At 11:07, Kirwan sent a bouncing puck into the yawning net for a 2-0 lead at 12:01.
- The Nittany Lions increased their lead to 3-0 midway through the second period when Kirwan scored his second goal of the game, the sophomore's, at the far post. Jarrod Crespo (Seven Lakes, North Carolina) created a turnover in the offensive zone at 10:19.
- Minnesota closed in on a 3-1 lead when Rhett Pitlick took a source pass from Jimmy Clark with 30 ticks left, and took advantage of an odd-man rush to go for a short goal and enter late in the midfield.
- Penn State regained a three-goal advantage midway through the third period with the graduate transfer jack buco (South Windsor, Conn.) outscored a Gopher defenseman who mishandled the puck at the blue line on a breakaway and beat Minnesota netminder Justen Crouse through his glove at the 10:06 mark, 4-1. And so.
- The Gophers made it another two-goal game when Jimmy Snageld took advantage of a defensive zone turnover by the Nittany Lions at the far post and beat PSU's sophomore goaltender. Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.) At 14:35 of the third period, the score was 4-2, over the gloves.
- Less than a minute later, Crouse spat the puck behind his own goal and the sophomore took advantage of Minnesota's mistake to allow Penn State to score. Dylan Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) put it in a yawning cage for a 5-2 advantage at the 15:23 mark.
- The Gophers never went away when Bryce Brodzinski brought the man advantage and the goaltender made it 5-3 at the 17:07 mark.
- junior Danny Janiev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) raced to the final horn, passing the Gophers on the puck to erase the ice, and found an empty net with just 0.5 seconds remaining for the final score.
goaltending
Grannan improved to 3-2-2 on the year with 23 saves, while Close stopped 37 shots and fell to 8-5-3.
Note
- Penn State went 0-for-3 on the power play and held a 43-26 edge in shots on goal, including a 22-6 mark in the second period. Minnesota had a 1-2 man advantage.
- Saturday night's attendance of 6,421 was the ninth largest attendance in Pegula Ice Arena history.
- Kirwan scored two goals, marking his second multi-goal game of the season and fifth of his career, and his fifth multi-point game of the season and 14th of his career. His three points tied his career high, set on Oct. 8, 2022, against Canisius.
- Penn State transitioned to 7-2-0 when it scored the first goal in a game this season, marking its fifth straight game with the first goal.
- The win is Penn State's first against a top-10 team this season and its first at Pegula Ice Arena since defeating No. 1 Michigan on Nov. 4, 2022.
- The Nittany Lions snapped a five-game losing streak against the Gophers at Pegula Ice Arena and picked up their first win since a 3-2 victory over Minnesota at Hockey Valley on February 22, 2020.
to the next
Penn State will travel to Madison next weekend to take on the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers to close out the first semester.
For more information on the 2023-24 season from Penn State Bookstore, the official Penn State Athletics bookstore, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANAY Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call us.
