Andrew Sturtz ‘20 enters his fourth season as assistant coach at his Alma Mater in 2026-27 after joining Guy Gadowsky’s staff in July 2023.
Along with Juliano Pagliero, Sturtz was one of the main architects behind the highest rated recruiting class in Penn State history this past season headlined by 2026 No. 1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna and 2025 first round selection Jackson Smith.
McKenna, the highest rated recruit in Penn State and college hockey history, finished the year fifth in the nation with 51 points, a Penn State freshman record and the second-most in a single-season all-time. McKenna became the first-ever Nittany Lion to win the Big Ten Scoring Title with 38 points on 11 goals and 27 assists in 24 league games. McKenna was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Penn State’s first-ever, as well as landing on the All-Big Ten Second and All-Freshman teams. McKenna also became the second-straight Nittany Lion to be named a Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist as well as the programs fourth All-American landing on the Second Team West.
Sturtz helped lead the Nittany Lions back to the NCAA Tournament in 2026 following the seventh 20-win season in program history as Penn State finished the season 21-14-2 while tying program records with 12 wins and 41 points to finish third in the Big Ten, its best conference finish since winning the regular-season title in 2019-20.
Penn State finished the year tied for fifth in the nation averaging 3.67 goals per game paced by a single-season record seven hat-tricks including three from junior Matt DiMarsico who led the team with 18 goals and ranked second behind McKenna with 42 points earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.
The former Nittany Lion winger once again elevated the powerplay increasing the unit’s play by another 2.4 percent finishing the year at 26 percent with a single-season program record 38 powerplay goals. Penn State finished the season sixth in the Big Ten but eighth in the nation in powerplay percentage.
Sturtz helped develop four forwards who went on to sign NHL contracts at the end of the season led by McKenna (TOR) and the career-year for DiMarsico (COL) while Aiden Fink (NSH) and Charlie Cerrato (CAR) also inked their entry-level contracts following the conclusion of the season. Fink concluded his Nittany Lion career third on the Penn State career scoring list with 125 points.
Freshman Jackson Smith had one of the most dominant offensive seasons for a defenseman in program history scoring a Nittany Lion defenseman record 11 goals while adding 15 assists for 26 points and being named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as well as the Big Ten All-Freshman team alongside McKenna. Smith also had seven powerplay goals, a Nittany Lion defenseman record and the second-most in a single-season all-time.
Sturtz helped guide Penn State to one of the most successful seasons in 2024-25 with a 22-14-4 record, the sixth 20-win season in program history, with the 22 wins tying for the second-most in a single season all-time. The Nittany Lions advanced to their first-ever Frozen Four after winning the Allentown Regional and finished the year with the highest final ranking in program history at No. 5 in both polls.
Sturtz was once again vital in rejuvenating the Nittany Lion man-advantage in 2024-25 increasing the unit’s success rate by another four percent as at 23.6 percent the unit ranked third in the Big Ten and 16th nationally while the 33 powerplay goals tied for the second-most in a single-season in program history and ranked first in the Big Ten and tied for fifth nationally. Sophomore Aiden Fink tied his own single-season record and ranked in the top-10 nationally with eight powerplay goals while freshman JJ Wiebusch added five to lead all Big Ten rookies while ranking tied for eighth in the nation among first-year players.
Sturtz helped guide the Nittany Lions to an unprecedented second-half turnaround as the Nittany Lions went 13-4-4 down the stretch advancing to the fourth NCAA Tournament in program history. The 2025 NCAA Tournament marked the first for Sturtz as a coach and his third overall as he was a member of both the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Tournament teams as a player.
Sturtz saw Aiden Fink set new single-season records for points (53) and assists (30) while tying the single-season goal mark at 23. The unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection became Penn State’s first-ever Hobey Baker Top-10 finalist while being named the third All-American in program history. Fink finished the year as the Big Ten leader in points and assists while ranking third in goals. After leading the nation in scoring for most of the second half, Fink’s 53 points ranked fourth at year’s end while his 1.33 points per game average was good for second in the Big Ten and third in the nation and is the second-best Nittany Lion mark all-time.
As a team, Penn State averaged 3.48 goals per game, a mark good for third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally as the 139 goals scored rank as the fourth-most all-time and most since scoring a program record 177 during the 2018-19 campaign.
Sturtz also saw a pair of freshmen burst onto the scene and become the second-highest rookie scoring duo in program history as both Wiebusch and Charlie Cerrato combined for 75 points on 29 goals and 46 assists. Cerrato was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team while Wiebusch earned himself Big Ten All-Tournament Team and Allentown Regional All-Tournament team honors. Cerrato led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally for points by a freshman with 42, the second-most in Penn State history, while ranking tops in the Big Ten for rookie goal scoring and assists with 15 and 27, respectively, marks that placed him third and tied for second in the nation among freshmen.