UNIVERSITY PARK— It had been more than two weeks since Penn State men’s hockey last won in regulation.
Not only did Penn State win Wednesday in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal against Minnesota, it dominated.
Defensmen Mac Gadowsky scored his first goal as a Nittany Lion, Matt DiMarsico scored his 100th point and Charlie Cerrato got the people going to help Penn State to a 6-2 win.
Penn State scored 3:10 into the game, courtesy of Cerrato, his first goal since suffering a long-term injury in late January. JJ Wiebusch and Matt DiMarscio assisted.
It stayed 1-0 for the next several minutes, with Minnesota not managing a shot on goal for almost the first 10 minutes.
Penn State added on at 13:18 in the first period, with Gadowsky’s first goal as a Nittany Lion. Gavin McKenna and Aiden Fink assisted.
Minnesota had a chance to chip away later in the period, when Penn State’s Ben Schoen called for a tripping penalty. But Penn State killed the penalty and kept the shutout intact going into the second period.
Penn State kept the heat on in the second period, outshooting Minnesota 6-1 in the first four minutes.
7:56 into the second period, DiMarsico got a goal to go with the assist, making it 3-0 and giving him 100 points as a Nittany Lion.
Defensemen Jarod Crespo and Jackson Smith had the assists.
Minnesota got one back 16:34 into the second period, when Javon Moore scored to make it 4-1. But Penn State pushed the lead back to four in the third period on a goal by Aiden Fink, which McKenna assisted on for his third of the night and Laubach also assisted on. That assist gave McKenna 50 points on the year.
Minnesota made it 5-2 with 4:54 left, but it was too little, too late.
Freshman goaltender Josh Fleming was rock solid for Penn State, saving 28 of 30 shots.
Penn State will now take on the winner of No. 2 Michigan and No. 7 Notre Dame Saturday.
