Penn State didn’t win a Big Ten game in eight tries before the calendar turned from 2024 to 2025. By season’s end, the Nittany Lions were the conference’s last team standing.

The best closing stretch in program history put the Lions in their first Frozen Four, courtesy of an overtime game-winner against UConn by Matt DiMarsico in the Allentown Regional final. Penn State would go on to lose 3-1 to Boston University in the national semifinal in St. Louis, but the Nittany Lions nonetheless won 15 of their final 24 games during a season to remember.

Penn State finished seventh in the nation in scoring with an average of 3.54 goals per game, and 106 of their 139 goals came from freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore forward Aiden Fink set team records with 53 points and 30 assists, finishing third in the nation in points per game, and also became the first Nittany Lion ever to record multiple hat tricks. Goalkeeper Arsenii Sergeev recorded 948 saves, most in the Big Ten and second-most in program history, and was tied for the conference lead with 19 wins. Charlie Cerrato led Big Ten freshmen with 15 goals and 27 assists and was fourth in points in the conference overall.

Head coach Guy Gadowsky pushed his career win total to 404, which ranks 29th all time and ninth among current coaches, and was named a finalist for the national coach of the year award. He knew the about-face his team made from January on was remarkable.

“The way that they stuck together and stayed positive in the hardest times when it would have been easy not to is just really, really impressive,” Gadowsky told reporters in St. Louis following the final game. “They’re really good men, and I’m really proud to be a part of this group.”