Latest news with #MattDiMarsico
CBS News
31-03-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Penn State Men's Ice Hockey Team heads to first Frozen Four in program history
For the first time since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, the Penn State Nittany Lions Men's Ice Hockey team will head to the hockey version of the Final Four, the Frozen Four. On Sunday night, the Nittany Lions advanced to the Frozen Four thanks to an overtime winner from Matt DiMarsico, who gave them a 3-2 victory over the UConn Huskies. Since being designated a Division I program in the 2012-13 season, Penn State has made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament: 2017, 2018, 2023, and this year, 2025. They've won the Big Ten tournament just once in 2018 and took home the Big Ten regular season crown in 2020. In the 2022-23 season, the Nittany Lions came close to finding their way to the Frozen Four, but ultimately lost to Michigan 2-1 in overtime. Now, for Penn State, it's been an underdog story in the NCAA Tournament thus far. Unlike basketball, instead of 64 teams making the tournament, 16 teams made the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, and Penn State started in their region as a four seed, the lowest possible seed. In the first round, they took on top-seeded Maine, one of the best teams in the country, compiling a 24-7-6 record throughout the season. Despite Maine jumping out to an early 1-0 lead, Penn State took control just minutes later and never looked back. They would score four unanswered goals and snag a 5-1 victory over Maine, giving them a date with second-seeded UConn Huskies. The Huskies had a similar record to the Nittany Lions this past season, going 22-11-4, while Penn State posted a 20-13-4 record. Just like their first-round matchup against Maine, Penn State would fall behind early, but answer back in the first period, tying the game 1-1. UConn would once again take the lead in the second, but less than a minute later, Penn State responded. No team would get on the board in the third period, but then, Pittsburgh native Matt DiMarsico caught a slick behind-the-back pass from Charlie Cerrato and buried it to put the program in the Frozen Four. They'll face off against a formidable Boston University team on April 10 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, at 8:30 p.m. in the semifinals with a chance to go to the 2025 NCAA Division I National Championship. As the program prepares for its first appearance in the Frozen Four, they've received a lot of help from Pittsburgh natives. According to their NCAA roster, they have six Pittsburgh natives as well as one player from Johnstown. From Pittsburgh are defenseman Carter Schade (Jr.); forwards Alex Servagno (Jr.), Matt DiMarsico (Soph.), Dane Dowiak (Soph.), Braedon Ford (Fr.); and goaltender John Seifarth (Jr.). DiMarsico, the sophomore forward from Pittsburgh and overtime hero, is fourth in the team in overall points with 32 in 38 games and is second on the club in goals with 17. He's also tied for the team lead in game-winning goals with four. The sophomore forward Dowiak recorded 20 points in 39 games, scoring 12 goals. While the lion's share of starts in net has gone to Arsenii Sergeev, junior goaltender Seifarth appeared in six games, recording a 3-2 record and a .918 save-percentage.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OT win sends Penn State to first NCAA Frozen Four in school history
For the first time in program history, Penn State is heading to the NCAA Frozen Four. Matt DiMarsico's overtime goal lifted Penn State past UConn for a dramatic 3-2 victory that sends Penn State to St. Louis in two weeks for the NCAA D1 Men's Hockey Tournament Frozen Four. The crowd at the PPL Center in Allentown, largely in favor of Penn State, erupted in unison. UConn had held the upper hand for much of the third period and overtime in terms of temp and shots on goal, but DiMarsico took advantage of a good opportunity in the UConn end to zip one past Huskies goaltender Callum Tung, who played well all night long. DiMarsico's goal came with just over two minutes remaining in the overtime. Given how the extra session had been going overall, Penn State needed that moment in a big way because UConn's physical style and forechecking was working well for the majority of the later stages of the game. UConn's Joey Muldowney opened the scoring with a goal off a Penn State turnover early in the first period. But Penn State had been here before by giving up an early goal to Maine in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. It took a little bit of time to get an answer on the board, but Dane Dowiak slapped in a game-tying goal on a perfect setup in front of the net. Penn State and UConn went into the first intermission tied at 1-1, but UConn regained a one-goal advantage in the second period with a bit of a luck on a redirected dribbler past Penn State goaltender Arsenii Sergeev, the former UConn Husky who transferred to Penn State last summer. But once again, Penn State had a quick response to tie things back up. Freshman JJ Wiebusch capped a furious offensive possession with a goal just 30 seconds later. The two teams went into the second intermission knotted at 2-2, and the third period saw a stalemate once again to send the game into overtime. UConn took some of the momentum with aggressive play and outshot the Nittany Lions in the third period. Penn State will face Boston University in its first Frozen Four appearance in school history in two weeks in St. Louis. Bowton dominated Ohio State in its first NCAA tournament game and punched its ticket to the Frozen Four with a 3-2 overtime victory over Cornell on Saturday. Boston U is certainly no stranger to the Frozen Four stage, but Penn State has now taken out two teams from Hockey East en route to St. Louis. Why not take out one more? Advertisement Penn State and Boston will square off in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on April 10, with the official start time to be determined. Penn State is the only Big Ten team left standing in the NCAA tournament. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads. This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: DiMarsico's OT goal sends Penn State to first NCAA Frozen Four
USA Today
31-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
OT win sends Penn State to first NCAA Frozen Four in school history
OT win sends Penn State to first NCAA Frozen Four in school history DiMarsico's overtime goal makes Penn State hockey history For the first time in program history, Penn State is heading to the NCAA Frozen Four. Matt DiMarsico's overtime goal lifted Penn State past UConn for a dramatic 3-2 victory that sends Penn State to St. Louis in two weeks for the NCAA D1 Men's Hockey Tournament Frozen Four. The crowd at the PPL Center in Allentown, largely in favor of Penn State, erupted in unison. UConn had held the upper hand for much of the third period and overtime in terms of temp and shots on goal, but DiMarsico took advantage of a good opportunity in the UConn end to zip one past Huskies goaltender Callum Tung, who played well all night long. DiMarsico's goal came with just over two minutes remaining in the overtime. Given how the extra session had been going overall, Penn State needed that moment in a big way because UConn's physical style and forechecking was working well for the majority of the later stages of the game. UConn's Joey Muldowney opened the scoring with a goal off a Penn State turnover early in the first period. But Penn State had been here before by giving up an early goal to Maine in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. It took a little bit of time to get an answer on the board, but Dane Dowiak slapped in a game-tying goal on a perfect setup in front of the net. Penn State and UConn went into the first intermission tied at 1-1, but UConn regained a one-goal advantage in the second period with a bit of a luck on a redirected dribbler past Penn State goaltender Arsenii Sergeev, the former UConn Husky who transferred to Penn State last summer. But once again, Penn State had a quick response to tie things back up. Freshman JJ Wiebusch capped a furious offensive possession with a goal just 30 seconds later. The two teams went into the second intermission knotted at 2-2, and the third period saw a stalemate once again to send the game into overtime. UConn took some of the momentum with aggressive play and outshot the Nittany Lions in the third period. Penn State will face Boston University in its first Frozen Four appearance in school history in two weeks in St. Louis. Bowton dominated Ohio State in its first NCAA tournament game and punched its ticket to the Frozen Four with a 3-2 overtime victory over Cornell on Saturday. Boston U is certainly no stranger to the Frozen Four stage, but Penn State has now taken out two teams from Hockey East en route to St. Louis. Why not take out one more? Penn State and Boston will square off in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on April 10, with the official start time to be determined. Penn State is the only Big Ten team left standing in the NCAA tournament. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.
