FRIDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: No. 5 Penn State overcomes a shaky second for a road win over No. 14 Arizona State

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Matt DiMarsico scored the game-winning goal and notched a hat trick in Penn State’s come-from-behind road season opener against Arizona State (photo: Penn State Athletics)

Leading 2-0 after one period of play against Arizona State, Penn State seemed powerless in the second to slow the Sun Devils’ momentum. Helped in part by the penalties the Nittany Lions took in the middle frame, Arizona State emerged after the second period with a 3-2 lead.

But that’s when Matt DiMarsico, Charlie Cerrato and JJ Wiebusch began to cook.

At 1:11, DiMarsico, Cerrato and Wiebusch evened the game for the Nittany Lions, with DiMarsico from behind the net throwing the puck out front, and the puck going in off the skate of Sun Devil Sean McGurn.

The trio connected again at 8:04. Cerrato scored his second goal of the night from Wiebusch and Aiden Fink at 18:07 and DiMarsico recorded his first collegiate hat trick with an empty-net goal at 18:49.

With his two goals and three assists on the night, Cerrato led all players with five points. Wiebusch had three assists and Fink had a goal and two helpers.

In his highly anticipated collegiate debut, Gavin McKenna had two points, the first assists on Penn State’s two first-period goals. McKenna is widely regarded to be the odds-on favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Lost in the comeback is just how good Arizona State’s second period was. Samuel Alfano scored ASU’s first goal at 8:16, unassisted after picking up the puck that Reese Laubach lost after tripping in Penn State’s end. McGurn scored a power-play goal at 14:35 to tie the game, and Logan Morrell gave the Sun Devils their only lead of the night at 15:19.

Each team had goaltenders making their first appearances after transferring from other Division I programs. For the Nittany Lions, Kevin Reidler stopped 35-of-38 for the win. Reidler played for Omaha last season.

Connor Hasley spent three seasons with Bentley before making the move to Arizona State. In net for the Sun Devils, Hasley made 40 saves on 46 shots.

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No. 13 Quinnipiac 4, No. 6 Boston College 3

Quinnipiac’s three second-period goals opened a gap that Boston College couldn’t close, and the Bobcats held on for a 4-3 road upset of the Eagles at BC’s Silvio O. Conte Forum.

Chris Pelosi’s goal from Charlie Leddy and Antonin Verreault at 12:08 in the second was the third of the period for the Bobcats and the game winner.

Jeremy Wilmer opened the scoring for the Bobcats at 9:25 in the first, and the game was tied after one on Teddy Stiga’s power-play goal with 15 seconds left in the period.

It was Matthew Lansing who started the scoring for Quinnipiac at 2:13 in the second and Graham Sward’s goal less than three minutes later gave the Bobcats a brief 3-1 lead. Ryan Conmy pulled the Eagles to within one again on the second Boston College power-play goal of the night at 6:31. Drew Fortescue had the night’s last goal at 4:31 to make it a 4-3 game.

Dylan Silverstein stopped 12 shots as the Bobcats held the Eagles to just 15 shots on goal. Jan Korec made 26 saves on 30 shots for Boston College.

No. 8 Minnesota 6, Michigan Tech 3

Four third-period goals gave Minnesota a 6-3 home win over Michigan Tech in the opening game of this two-game set 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Brodie Ziemer’s second goal of the night got things rolling at 50 seconds into the third period, with Brody Lamb’s goal at 4:13 giving the Golden Gophers their fourth goal and the win.

It was Ziemer who opened the scoring at 3:54 in the first, and with Rylan Gould’s goal for Michigan Tech at 10:22, the score was tied 1-1 after one.

With the Gophers up 2-1 late in the second, Michigan Tech scored twice within a one-minute span to take a 3-2 lead into the third.

Erik Påhlsson and Beckett Hendrickson capped the scoring for the Golden Gophers in the third. Nathan Airey made 25 saves on 28 shots for Minnesota.

In his first game for the Huskies after transferring from Lindenwood, Owen Bartoszkiewicz stopped 28-of-34.

Colorado College 4, No. 10 Connecticut 2

With the score tied 1-1 after one, Colorado College had early second-period goals from Brayden Schuurman and Philippe Blais-Savoie in front of Kaidan Mbereko’s solid goaltending en route to a 4-2 home upset of Connecticut in Ed Robson Arena.

Mbereko stopped 27 of 29 in the win, including key saves in the second to help the Tigers hold onto the lead.

The teams exchanged goals in the opening and closing minutes of the first period. Connecticut led 1-0 when Joey Muldowney scored 53 seconds into the game. It took until 19:31 for Colorado College to respond with Owen Beckner power-play goal.

It was Blais-Savoie’s unassisted goal at 4:56 in the second that held up as the game winner. Tabor Heaslip answered for Connecticut at 12:08 in the second, but that was as close as the Huskies got. Klavs Veinbergs capped the scoring for CC with the empty-net goal at 19:15 in the third.

In net for Connecticut, Tyler Muszelik stopped 34-of-38.

No. 12 Michigan 11, Mercyhurst 1

Michigan made an opening-night statement with an 11-1 win over visiting Mercyhurst in Yost Ice Arena. Eight different Wolverines scored their first goals of the season, with Will Horcoff netting his first career hat trick after a four-goal performance in 18 games in 2024-25 as a mid-season add.

Michael Hage led all Wolverines with two goals and three assists, Luca Fantilli had the game-winning goal at 5:20 in the first and in his NCAA debut, Jack Ivankovic stopped 15-of-16.

Leading 1-0 on Cole McKinney’s first career goal scored just over two minutes into the first, Fantilli scored from his knees, fed by McKinney at the opposite end of the rink. Michigan led 4-0 by the 13:36 mark of the first period.

The Wolverines outshot the Lakers 48-16 and Michigan went 3-for-4 on the power play.

Tyler DesRochers scored Mercyhurst’s only goal of the night with a little over a minute to go in the first period. Michael Chambre had 37 saves for the Lakers.

No. 20 Wisconsin 3, Lindenwood 0

In his first NCAA game, freshman Daniel Hauser earned his first career shutout, stopping all 22 shots he faced in Wisconsin’s 3-0 road win over Lindenwood. Christian Fitzgerald scored the game-winning goal on the power play from Logan Hensler and Oliver Tulk at 9:27 in the first period.

Freshman Grady Deering gave the Badgers a 2-0 lead with his first collegiate goal at 17:12 in the second. Ryan Botterill, assisted by Tulk, scored the empty-net goal at 19:46 in the third.

Klayton Knapp, a transfer this season from Minnesota-Duluth, made 30 saves on the night.

UMass Lowell 4, Merrimack 0

In the only conference play of the opening weekend, UMass Lowell blanked Merrimack in Hockey East action, 4-0, in Lowell’s Tsongas Center.

Austin Elliott earned his first career shutout in his first NCAA game, stopping all 17 shots he faced. Mirko Buttazzoni had the game winner at 3:43 in the first.

In his first game with the River Hawks after transferring from Niagara, Jay Ahearn scored his first two goals of the season including the game’s only power-play goal. Tnias Mathurin’s first collegiate goal was a shorty in the second period.

Max Lundgren had 32 saves for Merrimack on 36 shots.

Miami 6, Ferris State 4

After taking an early 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Michael Quinn in the first, it took Miami until midway through the third period to regain that lead and ultimately hold on for a 6-4 win over Ferris State in the RedHawks’ home rink, Steve Cady Arena.

The game was tied 2-2 after one after the teams exchanged power-play goals within the first 10 minutes and even-strength goals a little over a minute apart later in the period.

Connor McGrath gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead after two, but Casper Nassen’s goal at 5:43 in the third was the first of three consecutive Miami markers — Justin Stupka at 9:12 and Matteo Giampa’s power-play marker at 16:23, which held up to be the game-winning goal. Giampa’s goal was his second of the game and his first as a RedHawk after transferring from Canisius.

Freshman Matteo Drobac earned the win for Miami, stopping 32-of-35 shots he faced. Noah Rupprecht, a transfer from Long Island University, made 35 saves on 41 shots.

Canisius 3, Clarkson 1

Hunter Andrew had the second-period game winner and Chase Clark had 31 saves — including 13 in the third period — as Canisius beat Clarkson in nonconference play in the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, N.Y.

The Golden Griffins led 1-0 after the first on Walter Zacher’s power-play goal at 12:05. Zacher is a transfer this season from Robert Morris.

Andrew’s goal gave the Griffins a 2-0 lead after two, but freshman Matthew Mayich pulled he Golden Knights to within one at 13:33 in the third. Grant Porter had the empty-net goal for Canisius at 19:47.

In net for Clarkson and in his first NCAA game, Shane Soderwall made 29 saves. Shots were tied at 32 apiece.

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