Though Penn State’s season hasn’t concluded yet, awards are already rolling out.
Led by freshman phenom Gavin McKenna, six Nittany Lions earned Big Ten accolades on Wednesday afternoon. McKenna took home multiple honors, most notably Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Scoring Champion with 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists) across 24 conference games.
McKenna also claimed a spot on the all-conference second team, where he was joined by fellow Canadian freshman Jackson Smith. Forwards Aiden Fink and Matt DiMarsico, defenseman Jarod Crespo and goaltender Josh Fleming all earned honorable mentions.
The first player in program history to win Freshman of the Year, McKenna leads Penn State with 51 points and 36 goals this season, including two game-winning goals, an overtime goal and a hat trick throughout the year. However, it’s DiMarsico who leads the team in goals with 18, including an impressive three hat tricks and four game-winning scores. This season, Smith broke the program record for single-season goals by a defenseman and has extended that mark to 11.
Though Fink’s production hasn’t matched last season’s, he’s up to 10 goals and 28 assists on the year. Crespo has added five goals and 12 assists from the blue line and is responsible for a team-high 46 blocked shots. On the back end, Fleming has amassed a 10-6-2 overall record while splitting time with netminder Kevin Reidler, allowing 2.6 goals per game with a 0.922 save percentage, which is on pace for the best in program history.
Additionally, McKenna was named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, presented annually to the nation’s top player. Last season, Fink and defenseman Mac Gadowsky, playing for Army at the time, were also top-10 finalists. McKenna is two points shy of Fink’s program record of 53 points in a season, set during that campaign.
He’ll have a chance to break the record, as the Nittany Lions have clinched a berth in the upcoming NCAA tournament, though exact seeding won’t be finalized until Sunday.
