A healthy crowd gathered in Pegula Ice Arena to watch Penn State men’s hockey’s — and standout Gavin McKenna’s — home opener against Clarkson on Thursday night.
But it was right wing JJ Wiebusch who stole the show, setting a program record with four goals, including three within a six-minute span in the second period.
Despite his best efforts, the Nittany Lions dropped their first game of the season, 5-4, to fall to 2-1, while the Golden Knights advanced to 1-1 to open the series.
“Obviously the result was not what we wanted, but we did a lot of good things tonight, starting with a great crowd on a Thursday night,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game.
How it happened
Before Penn State’s official account could post on X about the game starting, Clarkson had already taken a 1-0 lead off the wrist of Talon Sigurdson.
It didn’t take long for the Nittany Lions to respond, as Wiebusch knotted the score with a power-play goal less than five minutes later, assisted by the dynamic duo of McKenna and Aiden Fink.
Things got chippy in the latter stages of the opening frame, with each team alternating between going on the power play or penalty kill. Despite heavy man-advantage action, neither team found the back of the net before the horn.
Wiebusch netted his second tally of the game and third of the season early in the second period, putting Penn State back ahead off assists from Charlie Carrato and Jackson Smith, who returned to action after missing last week’s series with illness.
“You can see what a beautiful skater he is, and he has such a good head for the game, and he’s a big body too,” Gadowsky said. “I thought he showed really good offensive plays and I thought he showed really good defensive plays as well.”
The penalties commenced shortly, with Clarkson’s Ty Brassington sent to the sin bin for roughing behind his own net. The Nittany Lions capitalized during 5-on-4 play, with Wiebusch capping off a hat trick assisted by McKenna and Charlie Cerrato.
The Golden Knights didn’t go away quietly, with Adrian Misaljievic scoring on an odd-man rush to pull within one goal.
The points kept pouring in for Wiebusch, who secured a career-high with his fourth goal of the game to extend Penn State’s lead to 4-2.
“I think that unit has a lot of talent finishing and obviously he sees the ice in a very special way, and is able to find every lane and manipulate time and space in a way that helps,” Gadowsky said.
Clarkson once again responded, with a breakaway goal by Erik Bargholtz in the second period and another tally from Owen Van Steensel to open the third.
The Golden Knights regained the lead thanks to some nifty stick-handling in front of the net from Misaljievic, who notched his second score of the night to suck some air out of the building.
An empty-netter sealed the deal, sending fans streaming to the exits with a sour taste in their mouths after a promising start and career night from Wiebusch.
“Regardless whether they win or lose … you have to forget it quickly and be ready to be prepared for the next night,” Gadowsky said.
Penn State and Clarkson will meet again at 7 p.m. Friday in Pegula Ice Arena.
