DiMarsico’s Hat-Trick Leads No. 6 Men's Hockey Past LIU, 5-4, in OT ThrillerDiMarsico’s Hat-Trick Leads No. 6 Men's Hockey Past LIU, 5-4, in OT Thriller

DiMarsico’s Hat-Trick Leads No. 6 Men's Hockey Past LIU, 5-4, in OT Thriller

Matt DiMarsico nets his second hat-trick of the season, Aiden Fink scores the OT-winner in come-from-behind victory over LIU

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) registered his second hat-trick of the season as No. 6 Penn State erased a two-goal deficit in a come-from-behind, 5-4, overtime victory against Long Island University in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night.

DiMarsico joins classmate Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) and sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) as the only Nittany Lions all-time to secure multiple games with three or more goals in a career. The junior also becomes the only Penn State player all-time to tally multiple hat-tricks in the same season.

DiMarsico’s hat-trick is the 17th all-time and the 13th on home ice, and is already the third game this season a player has registered three or more goals, each coming in the first game of a weekend series.

Through five games, DiMarsico joins Wiebusch with six goals on the year to tie for the national lead entering play on Saturday.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • LIU (1-3-0) opened the scoring as Garrett Valk let one rip from the near point and it ramped up off a Nittany Lion stick atop the crease and over the right shoulder of sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) for the 1-0 edge at 4:45 of the first period.
  • The Sharks extended the lead less than a minute into the middle frame as Nick Bernardo ripped home a powerplay score for the 2-0 lead at the 55-second mark. The PPG snapped a streak of 18-straight successful penalty kills for PSU.
  • Penn State (4-1-0) would cut the deficit in half as DiMarisoc slapped a bouncing puck into a yawning net at the far post following a point shot by sophomore Nick Fascia (Blackwood, N.J.) for the 2-1 score at 2:25 of the second period.
  • The visitors regained the two-goal edge shortly after with a shorthanded tally as JR Perdion connected on the breakaway for the 3-1 margin at the 4:32 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions got one back against the run of play as sophomore Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) set up DiMarsico knifing through the slot and he went high-blocker picking the corner for the 3-2 deficit at 11:12 of the middle frame.
  • The hosts then tied the contest with a powerplay goal of their own midway through the second stanza as freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) ripped a one-timer from the high slot that redirected off an LIU stick and into the back of the net for the 3-3 score at the 12:43 mark.
  • Penn State secured its first lead of the game early in the third taking advantage of a major powerplay as DiMarsico tipped the hat as he slipped the puck through the five-hole of Shark net-minder Daniel Duris for the 4-3 advantage at 6:26 of the third period.
  • LIU tied the contest just after a powerplay expired as Bernardo ripped one shortside under the arm of Reidler from below the right faceoff dot for the 4-4 score at 11:27 of the third period.
  • Just past the midway point of the extra session Reidler made a big save at one end and freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) began the rush entering the zone before finding the trailer, Smith, who wheeled to the right dot and found the seam with a beautiful backdoor feed to Fink who redirected the puck into a yawning net to send the fans home happy with the 5-4 overtime victory at the 2:57 mark.

GOALTENDING

Reidler moves to 3-1-0 on the year after stopping 32 shots in the victory while Duris drops to 1-2-0 this season following a 36-save effort in the defeat.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the 41-36 edge in shots on goal and went 2-for-6 on the man-advantage while LIU went 1-for-4 on the powerplay for the game.
  • The Nittany Lions have now scored at least one man-advantage goal in all five games this season with multiple PPG’s in three-of-five,
  • With a pair of assists, Cerrato now has four multi-point games this season and 19 for his career while extending his point streak to five games and his national lead in points to 13.
  • DiMarsico collects his second multi-goal game of the year and the fourth of his career while also registering his second multi-point effort of the season and the 14th of his career.
  • With one goal and one assist, Fink extends his season-opening point streak to five games while moving past Danny Dzhaniyev ’25 and into a tie with Evan Barratt for 9th on the Penn State all-time scoring list with 95 points for his career. He also became the 11th Nittany Lion all-time to reach 40 career goals as he sits just one shy of Brandon Biro ’20 for 10th on the all-time goal scoring list.
  • With one goal and one assist of his own, Smith registers his first career multi-point effort while running his point streak to three games.
  • Wiebusch sees his four-game point streak snapped as he was held off the scoresheet for the first time this season.
  • Penn State improves to 4-0-0 all-time against the Sharks following the victory.

NEXT UP

Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to conclude the season series with a 6 p.m. puck drop. The game will be available for streaming on B1G+.

For more information on the 2025-26 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.