No. 18 Men's Hockey Drops Weekend Finals vs. Wisconsin, 6-3 – Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. A four-goal opening stretch for the visiting Wisconsin Badgers was too much to overcome as a valiant comeback bid fell short to the 18th-ranked Nittany Lions in a 6-3 loss in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday night at the Pegula Ice Arena.

Penn State drops to 4-5-0 on the year and 0-4-0-0-1-0 in Big Ten play with the loss, while the Badgers improve to 4-8-0 overall and 3-5-0- 1 -3-0 in conference action with the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wisconsin took the early 1-0 lead with just 40 ticks in the opening frame when Kyle Kukkonen fired a shot from the near center wall that found the corner of the net after Nittany Lion junior goalkeeper Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) was caught out of position after playing the puck behind the net.

The Badgers extended the lead to 2-0 just over two minutes later when Quinn Finley slid a loose puck into the far post after Logan Hensler's initial shot was blocked in front at 3:02 of the first period.

The visitors pushed the lead to 4-0 midway through the opening period, when Christian Fitzgerald and Tyson Dyck scored goals just 42 seconds apart at 7:38 and 8:20 respectively.

Penn State narrowed the deficit just 48 seconds into the middle stanza when junior Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, NC) led a 3-on-1 rush that skated under the right spot before beating Badger netminder Tommy Scarfone low on the blocker side for the unassisted score and the 4-1 score.

The Nittany Lions added a second when freshman Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Maryland) crashed the net and ripped home a rebound after senior Simon Macks' (Brockville, Ontario) first shot was blocked up front for the 4-2 score at the 13th: 38 points.

Penn State continued to push and pull within one goal after Cerrato delivered a beautiful, backhanded pass to a streaking Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) and the sophomore fired from the right side to the short side for the 4-3 deficit at 8:26 of the third. period.

A late big penalty put an end to the hosts' momentum, leading to a pair of Badger scores as Ryland Mosley lit the lamp of the rush at 11:48 of the third period and Cody Laskosky hit the back of the court at 15:28 just found to take into account the 6. -3 final.

OBJECTIVE

Sergeev didn't factor the decision as he stopped two of four shots in the opening 4:14 before being relieved by junior Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.). Grannan falls to 0-1-0 on the year with the loss after making 23 saves in the final 55:46 of game action. Scarfone improves to 3-4-0 on the year after stopping 30 shots in the win.

NOTES

Penn State held a slim 33-31 edge in shots on goal while going 0-for-2 on the man advantage, while Wisconsin scored a pair of power play numbers during a late five-minute major to finish the night 2-for-5 to close.

With two assists yesterday and a second period assist tonight, Mack passes Christian Berger (24) and is 10th on the all-time points list for defensemen at Penn State as he now has 43 for his career, while his 34 assists tie the score break with Berger and go one step further. tied with Paul DeNaples (23) for ninth on the all-time defenseman assists list. He is also now just one point away from tying DeNaples for ninth place.

Cerrato scored goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his career after scoring in both games this weekend. After adding an assist in the third period, Cerrato secured his third multi-point effort of the season.

With a pair of assists, sophomore Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) secured his first multi-point effort of the season and seventh of his career.

The Nittany Lions controlled the spot again, winning 60.3 percent (38-for-63) of the ties, while Cerrato once again led the way with 14-for-21 (66.7 percent).

Penn State has now lost seven straight to Wisconsin, but maintains a slim 27-25-3 lead in the series.

NEXT

Penn State stays home for the second of three straight series while the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines come to town next Friday and Saturday.

For more information about the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.