Albany, N.Y. — Penn State and Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) engaged in a seesaw heavyweight battle Friday night, one that felt as though it could swing either way.
But with just over five minutes remaining, Hunter Anderson scored the biggest goal of his season, sending the Bulldogs to a Sunday afternoon matchup against top-ranked Michigan with a 3-1 win over Penn State in Albany.
The opening period largely belonged to Penn State, which came out with jump, controlled long stretches of play and consistently pressured Minnesota Duluth goaltender Adam Gajan.
The Nittany Lions established the tone early with aggressive offensive-zone pressure, generating chances from Reese Laubach, Gavin McKenna, Aiden Fink, Casey Aman and Charlie Cerrato while forcing the Bulldogs to defend for much of the first half of the period.
Goaltender Josh Fleming was tested at times for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions did a strong job limiting clean looks early and were active in the shooting lanes. Jarod Crespo and Cerrato each recorded blocks in a first period in which Penn State’s pace and territorial edge stood out. After Penn State kept pressing, the breakthrough finally came at the 11:23 mark.
Shea Van Olm opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season to give Penn State a 1-0 lead, finishing a play created by Casey Aman and Mac Gadowsky.
Van Olm’s goal rewarded a stretch in which Penn State had been dictating play and repeatedly collapsing on the net. At that point, the Nittany Lions looked firmly in control, continuing to generate chances off the cycle and off won faceoffs.
But UMD’s weathered that push and eventually found its footing.
After absorbing Penn State’s early surge, the Bulldogs began to create more sustained pressure in the second half of the first period. Max Plante and Zam Plante became more noticeable, and Duluth’s top players started to find space in transition and around the circles.
That momentum swing paid off with 4:59 left in the opening period, when Max Plante tied the game at 1-1. Zam Plante and Ty Hanson assisted on the equalizer, capping a strong response from the Bulldogs after Penn State had controlled much of the period.
It was Max Plante’s 25th goal of the season.
Even after surrendering the goal, Penn State closed the first period with energy, firing several more shots and finishing with a commanding 17-9 edge in shots on goal.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The final 40 minutes would be a different story.
UMD flipped the flow of the game and spent much of the middle frame on the attack. Penn State hurt itself early when it was called for too many players on the ice just 1:32 into the period, giving the Bulldogs the game’s first power play. Although the Bulldogs did not convert, it used that sequence to build momentum, pinning Penn State back and generating several dangerous chances from forwards Callum Arnott, Zam Plante and others around the crease.
Fleming helped Penn State survive that stretch, and the Nittany Lions’ penalty kill came through in a key moment. Still, UMD controlled much of the territorial play in the second, outshooting Penn State 17-6 in the frame. The Bulldogs repeatedly attacked from in tight and off broken plays near the net, while Penn State struggled to sustain the same offensive-zone time it had in the first.
Penn State’s best second-period chance may have come when Laubach rang a shot off the pipe with 14:42 left, a near-miss that could have swung the game back in the Nittany Lions’ favor. Instead, the rest of the period turned into a grind, with both teams trading blocked shots and missed opportunities late.
During the second period, Cerrato went back to the dressing room multiple times with what appeared to be a lower-body injury.
UMD took control of the game in the third period and found the go-ahead goal late to edge Penn State 2-1. The Bulldogs dictated much of the early tempo, winning key faceoffs and keeping pressure on the Nittany Lions with repeated chances from Sam Truman, Jack Shaugabay and Zam Plante, though Fleming kept Penn State even with several important saves.
Penn State answered with a handful of opportunities of its own, including looks from Jackson Smith, Matt DiMarsico, Reese Laubach and Luke Misa, while Charlie Cerrato nearly gave the Nittany Lions the lead when he rang a shot off the pipe. Penn State then got a prime chance to swing the game when Max Plante went off for hooking with 8:55 left, but the power play came up empty despite dangerous point-blank chances from Aiden Fink, JJ Wiebusch and Gavin McKenna.
That missed opportunity loomed large when Anderson buried an unassisted goal from in front with 5:13 remaining, giving Minnesota-Duluth a 2-1 lead it would not relinquish.
The Bulldogs would add some insurance in the final seconds when Ty Hanson buried the empty net goal to make it 3-1
Over the final two periods, UMD controlled the game with decisive edges in shots on goal (30-13) and faceoffs (27-13), while also finishing with a 11-8 advantage in blocked shots.
For Penn State, the loss ends the 2025-26 campaign with the Nittany Lions going 3-8-2 over their final 13 games, forcing them to reflect on a difficult finish to a season that began with some of the highest expectations in program history.
