UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- After splitting the series with No. 16 Notre Dame last weekend, No. 20 Sun Devil Hockey heads to University Park to take on Penn State (1-5-0) on BTN+. Friday's puck drop will be at 6 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. MT, while Sunday's matinee will be at 2 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. MT at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Sun Devils (3-4-1) look to continue their offensive onslaught -- which has produced 21 goals in the last four games—against the Nittany Lions who are coming off a nine-goal performance against No. 7 Michigan.
The last time these two teams met was a historic moment for the Sun Devils, as then-sophomore Johnny Walker scored the overtime game-winner against the then-No. 6 Nittany Lions for the program's biggest victory to date.
"They scored nine goals we could barely get a shot against," said head coach Greg Powers. "They're very good. Guy [Gadowsky] does an unbelievable job in every way. He's a great guy, a great coach. He coach's a very exciting brand of hockey. They're fun to watch but not fun to play against. They're a very offensive-minded team. Getting a win like they did against Michigan is really going to get them going ... They're not by any stretch a 1-5 team."
Sun Devil Rewind
After starting the season with some scoring tribulations, the Sun Devils finally clicked in Wisconsin producing 11 goals in the two-game series and carried that offensive explosion into the next week at Notre Dame, putting up 10 goals in the series.
Freshman forward Matthew Kopperud continued to prove his scoring abilities against Notre Dame with two goals and one assist in both of the games, ending the weekend with six points. Kopperud now leads the Sun Devils in scoring with 11 points (6G-5A) and is tied for second place in the NCAA for scoring and tied for first in goals scored.
In the Notre Dame series, 13 different Sun Devils made the scoresheet including junior forward Jordan Sandhu who earned his first assist on Kopperud's goal Thursday night then went on to score his first goal of the season and tally another assist on Friday night to combine for three points on the weekend. Sophomore defenseman Jacob Semik also earned his first two points of the season in Friday's game.
Goaltending continues to hold strong for the Sun Devil defense with junior Evan DeBrouwer and freshman Cole Brady splitting time in net. DeBrouwer (2-2-0) maintains a .906 save percentage and 3.30 goals against average after earning the win on Thursday night. Brady (1-2-1) holds a .906 save percentage and 3.62 goals against average after closing the series Friday night.
Ready to Explode Offensively
The Nittany Lions (1-5-0) are coming off a huge win against No. 7 Michigan, beating the Wolverines 9-5 to earn their first victory of the season. Senior forward Alex Limoges is the only top-five returning scorer for the Nittany Lions who finished the 2019-20 season with 32 points (11G-21A). Limoges has five points (2G-3A) in the first six games of the season and is tied with freshman Jared Westcott for second place in scoring for Penn State. Sophomore Kevin Wall leads the team in scoring with six points (3G-3A). Wall was drafted in the 6th round in 2019 by the Carolina Hurricanes and finished the 2019-20 season with seven points (2G-5A) as a freshman.
The team has welcomed eight freshmen after having nine seniors graduate and two juniors move on to professional hockey. Five out of the eight in the incoming class have already tallied two or more points through the first six games of the season.
Penn State tallied 10 goals in last weekend's matchup with Michigan, nine of which came from one game. The Nittany Lions are 0-5-0 when scoring three goals or less, but are 78-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals.
The Sun Devils (3-4-1) look to continue their offensive onslaught -- which has produced 21 goals in the last four games—against the Nittany Lions who are coming off a nine-goal performance against No. 7 Michigan.
The last time these two teams met was a historic moment for the Sun Devils, as then-sophomore Johnny Walker scored the overtime game-winner against the then-No. 6 Nittany Lions for the program's biggest victory to date.
"They scored nine goals we could barely get a shot against," said head coach Greg Powers. "They're very good. Guy [Gadowsky] does an unbelievable job in every way. He's a great guy, a great coach. He coach's a very exciting brand of hockey. They're fun to watch but not fun to play against. They're a very offensive-minded team. Getting a win like they did against Michigan is really going to get them going ... They're not by any stretch a 1-5 team."
Sun Devil Rewind
After starting the season with some scoring tribulations, the Sun Devils finally clicked in Wisconsin producing 11 goals in the two-game series and carried that offensive explosion into the next week at Notre Dame, putting up 10 goals in the series.
Freshman forward Matthew Kopperud continued to prove his scoring abilities against Notre Dame with two goals and one assist in both of the games, ending the weekend with six points. Kopperud now leads the Sun Devils in scoring with 11 points (6G-5A) and is tied for second place in the NCAA for scoring and tied for first in goals scored.
In the Notre Dame series, 13 different Sun Devils made the scoresheet including junior forward Jordan Sandhu who earned his first assist on Kopperud's goal Thursday night then went on to score his first goal of the season and tally another assist on Friday night to combine for three points on the weekend. Sophomore defenseman Jacob Semik also earned his first two points of the season in Friday's game.
Goaltending continues to hold strong for the Sun Devil defense with junior Evan DeBrouwer and freshman Cole Brady splitting time in net. DeBrouwer (2-2-0) maintains a .906 save percentage and 3.30 goals against average after earning the win on Thursday night. Brady (1-2-1) holds a .906 save percentage and 3.62 goals against average after closing the series Friday night.
Ready to Explode Offensively
The Nittany Lions (1-5-0) are coming off a huge win against No. 7 Michigan, beating the Wolverines 9-5 to earn their first victory of the season. Senior forward Alex Limoges is the only top-five returning scorer for the Nittany Lions who finished the 2019-20 season with 32 points (11G-21A). Limoges has five points (2G-3A) in the first six games of the season and is tied with freshman Jared Westcott for second place in scoring for Penn State. Sophomore Kevin Wall leads the team in scoring with six points (3G-3A). Wall was drafted in the 6th round in 2019 by the Carolina Hurricanes and finished the 2019-20 season with seven points (2G-5A) as a freshman.
The team has welcomed eight freshmen after having nine seniors graduate and two juniors move on to professional hockey. Five out of the eight in the incoming class have already tallied two or more points through the first six games of the season.
Penn State tallied 10 goals in last weekend's matchup with Michigan, nine of which came from one game. The Nittany Lions are 0-5-0 when scoring three goals or less, but are 78-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals.