Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 5 Michigan to Town for B1G Hockey BattleMen's Hockey Welcomes No. 5 Michigan to Town for B1G Hockey Battle

Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 5 Michigan to Town for B1G Hockey Battle

Penn State looks to snap a four-game skid to open conference play as the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines come to Hockey Valley for a Big Ten series this weekend.

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Penn State vs. No. 5 Michigan
Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.

Penn State vs. No. 5 Michigan

Penn State
Penn State

4-5-0 | 0-4-0 B1G

No. 5 Michigan
No. 5 Michigan

7-2-1 | 2-0-0 B1G

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State looks to snap a four-game skid to open conference play as the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines come to Hockey Valley for a Big Ten series this weekend.

Follow the Action

Follow the Action

With Brian Tripp on the road with football, former Nittany Lion goaltender Chris Funkey '19 makes his return to the broadcast booth to provide color commentary for both games this weekend with Eric Ohlson sliding over to cover play-by-play duties.

Dates: Friday, November 22 | Saturday, November 23
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 7 p.m. | 7:30 p.m.

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 47th and 48th meetings all-time between Penn State and Michigan with the Wolverines holding the 28-17-1 edge while the teams are evenly split at Pegula Ice Arena with 10 wins each and one tie in 21 contests.
  • The teams evenly split the season series last year with each squad winning one road game and one home game. Michigan won the opener of each series with the Nittany Lions coming back to claim the finale. The series last season was so even, that each squad registered 16 goals apiece between the four games with each victory coming by two goals.
  • Sophomore Aiden Fink shined against the Wolverines last season registering seven points on four goals and three assists in the four games. Fink registered a hat-trick and career-high four points during a 5-3 victory in Ann Arbor on November 18, the first win for Penn State at Yost Ice Arena in five years and just the fourth overall. Classmate Matt DiMarsico added four assists that night tying the Penn State single-game record for assists and he finished the season with six points on one goal and five assists in the four games against Michigan.
  • Laubach also saw extreme success against the Wolverines registering four goals and two assists for six points in four games last season. As a line Fink, Laubach and DiMarsico combined for nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in the four games a season ago.
  • Penn State and Michigan have the same average age of 21 years and 9 months tying as the 3rd-youngest team in the Big Ten and 12th nationally.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • Michigan enters the week coming off a bye with a 7-2-1 record and a 2-0-0 mark in conference actions as the Wolverines swept Notre Dame two weeks ago. Michigan has won four-straight, five if you include an exhibition against the USNTDP, all against ranked opponents following a 4-0 loss to St. Cloud on October 19. The Wolverines enter the series with an unblemished 3-0-1 record on the road.
  • The Wolverines look a bit different than last season’s Frozen Four squad as they are without the services of five of the top-six scorers on that roster with only T.J. Hughes back in the Maize and Blue. Hughes tallied 48 points last season to rank fourth on the team with 19 goals and 29 assists. The top-three from that team, Gavin Brindley, Rutger McGroarty and Dylan Duke have each moved on. Both Brindley and McGroarty where 50+-point getters while Duke paced the team with 26 goals.
  • This year’s Wolverine squad is led by freshman Michael Hage with nine points on five goals and four assists while Garrett Schifsky and Evan Werner have identical lines of 5-3-8. Schifsky’s three shorthanded goals are the most in the nation.
  • Michigan has brand new faces between the pipes as well after last year’s starter Jake Barczewski graduated, and backup Noah West transferred to Ferris State. Barczewski started 37 games a season ago posting a 20-14-3 record with a .907 save percentage and a 2.84 goals-against average.
  • Ferris State transfer Logan Stein has split time evenly with freshman Cameron Korpi each starting five games with the former having the more successful numbers posting a 4-1-0 record with a .934 save percentage and a 1.59 goals-against average. His GAA is good for third in the Big Ten and 10th nationally while his save percentage ranks tied for third in the conference and 12th nationally.
  • Michigan has had a strong start defensively to the season ranking fourth in the Big Ten and 15th nationally allowing just 2.20 goals per game. The Wolverines also have the second-best PK in the Big Ten behind only Penn State at 85.7 percent (30-for-35), a mark good for 19th in the nation.

BLIP ON THE RADAR

  • Even after allowing a pair of powerplay goals following a five-minute major late in the game on Saturday, Penn State maintains its Big Ten lead on the PK at 92.5 percent (37-for-40), a mark good for fifth nationally.
  • Both Penn State and Michigan have a trio of shorthanded tallied this season to lead the conference and tie for second nationally. The Nittany Lions have three different players with shortys this season while Michigan has one as Garrett Schifsky leads the nation accounting for all three.
  • PSU had just one shorty last season and two in 2022-23. The program record for shorthanded tallies is 12 achieved in 2015-16.
  • The Nittany Lions had a pair of powerplay scores themselves in Friday night’s contest to get off the schneid with the second being an extra attacker goal as well marking the first goal of its kind for Penn State since Aiden Fink scored an extra attacker goal at Michigan last November.

 

SOPHOMORE SENSATION

  • Aiden Fink is once again leading Penn State offensively with 12 points in nine games tying for the team lead with four goals while adding a team-best eight assists. His 12 points are tied for eighth in the Big Ten.
  • Five of Fink’s 12 points have come on the powerplay this season as he has factored in to each of Penn State’s man-advantage scores with a pair of goals and three assists. Fink now has 10 powerplay tallies for his career to tie David Goodwin ‘17 for eighth on the all-time list just four shy of the program record held by five others. Fink has two powerplay tallies so far this season after his single-season record of eight last year.

 

MACK ATTACK

  • In a weekend where Penn State gave up its most goals this season surrendering 11 in the two games against Wisconsin, senior captain Simon Mack was a plus-four for the weekend including being on the ice for each goal scored on Saturday.
  • Mack collected three assists on the weekend with two Friday and one Saturday and currently has eight points (1G, 7A) through nine games this season already halfway to his career-high 16 points (4G, 12A) from last season.
  • Following his three-point weekend, Mack moves past Christian Berger ’24 for 10th on the all-time points list for defensemen at Penn State as he now has 43 for his career while his 34 assists break a tie with Berger and move into a tie with Paul DeNaples ’23 for ninth on the all-time defenseman assist list. He is also now just one point shy of tying DeNaples for ninth.
  • Mack is tied for second on the team with his eight points while ranking tied for fifth in the Big Ten among defensemen.
  • Mack’s plus-7 rating leads the Nittany Lions and is good for 12th in the conference and sixth among blueliners. His defense partner, freshman Cade Christenson, is second on the team with a plus-6 rating.

 

CHILD’S PLAY

  • Freshman Charlie Cerrato had his best weekend in the Blue & White against Wisconsin registering a goal in each contest while adding one assist for three points. Cerrato had one goal and one assist in Saturday’s finale after scoring on Friday night. This marks the first time this season Cerrato has tallied in back-to-back games while Saturday marked his third multi-point effort of the season which is tied for the team lead with Fink and Mack.

 

DOMINATING THE DOT

  • After another strong weekend on faceoffs, Penn State has moved into the top spot in the Big Ten for faceoff percentage as the Nittany Lions are now winning 56 percent (302-for-540) of its draws on the year to rank fourth in the nation.
  • Penn State went 77-for-132 (58.3 percent) over the weekend against the Badgers who entered the series as the top faceoff team in the Big Ten. Freshman Charlie Cerrato was 26-for-40 (65 percent) over the two games to pace the Nittany Lions.
  • Cerrato leads the way for Penn State this season winning draws at a 62 percent (83-for-134) clip to rank second in the Big Ten while his classmate, Keaton Peters, sits fourth in the Big Ten at 60 percent (76-for-127).

 

NEXT UP

Penn State remains in Hockey Valley to close out its six-game homestand with a quick turnaround as the Nittany Lions welcome Colgate to town for a pre-Thanksgiving non-conference series on Tuesday and Wednesday.

For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey ticket page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Follow the Nittany Lions

Follow the Nittany Lions

Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State men's ice hockey. Fans can keep up to date with all things Hockey Valley on X and Instagram @PennStateMHKY, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at facebook.com/pennstatemenshockey.