The No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions return to action after a 41-day break and open the second half of the 2025–26 season with a home-and-home non-conference series against RIT. The teams will meet Saturday night at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester before wrapping up the weekend Sunday evening at Pegula Ice Arena.
Series Information
Dates: Saturday, January 3 | Sunday, January 4
Locations: Gene Polisseni Center (Rochester, N.Y.) | Pegula Ice Arena (University Park, Pa.)
Times: Saturday – 7 p.m. | Sunday – 5 p.m.
Streaming: Big Ten+
Radio: LionVision
This weekend marks the fifth and sixth all-time meetings between Penn State and RIT, with every series coming in a home-and-home format. The Nittany Lions are unbeaten against the Tigers (3-0-1), including a perfect 2-0-0 record in Rochester.
Penn State has historically thrived coming out of winter break, posting a 9-3-1 all-time record in its first game back and riding a current eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1).
Only four current Nittany Lions, Carter Schade, Alex Servagno, Ben Schoen, and Jarod Crespo, played in the last meeting between the teams in 2022.
The matchup also features a contrast in experience. Penn State enters the weekend as one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten, while RIT ranks among the oldest teams in the nation.
RIT Notes
RIT comes in after dropping six of its last seven games following a 9-2-0 start. Junior Christian Catalano leads the Tigers offensively, while sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek anchors a defense highlighted by one of the nation’s top penalty-kill units.
No. 8 Penn State Notes
Penn State has been elite outside Big Ten play, going 60-8-1 in regular-season non-conference games since 2018-19 and 52-16-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey opponents.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Junior forward Aiden Fink returns to the Penn State lineup after missing nearly half of the first 16 games due to a thumb injury suffered in the Big Ten opener at Ohio State in October.
Fink regained form quickly on the international stage, leading the Spengler Cup in scoring with eight points on four goals and four assists while skating with the U.S. Collegiate Selects, highlighted by a semifinal hat trick against HC Sparta Praha.
Despite limited action this season, Fink has totaled nine points and now sits ninth on Penn State’s all-time scoring list with 96 career points.
He is four points shy of becoming the fastest Nittany Lion to reach 100 career points and is nearing top-10 program marks in both goals and assists.
Head coach Guy Gadowsky returns from Switzerland after guiding the first-ever collegiate select team to a runner-up finish at the 2025 Spengler Cup.
Five Penn State players: Fink, Charlie Cerrato, Matt DiMarsico, JJ Wiebusch, and defenseman Mac Gadowsky, represented the Nittany Lions, with all five recording at least one point. Fink and DiMarsico were named among the team’s top performers, while DiMarsico earned multiple player-of-the-game honors.
Sophomore Charlie Cerrato continues to pace Penn State’s offense, ranking fifth in the Big Ten and tied for 15th nationally with 21 points on the season.
Freshman standout Gavin McKenna will be absent while competing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, where he enters with 18 points, second among Big Ten rookies.
In goal, Penn State has benefited from a strong tandem. Freshman Josh Fleming owns a .929 save percentage, while sophomore transfer Kevin Reidler is coming off a standout road win at Minnesota, stopping the final 21 shots he faced.
NEXT UP
Penn State opens Big Ten play next weekend at the Pegula Ice Arena against Minnesota, with both games airing nationally on the Big Ten Network.
