STATE COLLEGE — Penn State men’s hockey clinched the program’s fourth NCAA tournament bid in program history, the NCAA announced on Sunday, March 23.
After falling in the Big Ten tournament semifinals to No. 10 Ohio State, the Nittany Lions needed help from teams in other conferences to make the big dance.
Thankfully for Penn State fans, No. 17 Cornell, No. 9 Denver and No. 4 Western Michigan all won on Friday, March 21, helping the Nittany Lions and others from potential bid stealers.
The bid comes after a disastrous start to Big Ten play, losing the first eight in-conference games. In January, though, Penn State flipped a switch and went on to win 14 of its last 16 games, including wins against then No. 1 Michigan State and then No. 1 Minnesota.
The Nittany Lions first game of the tournament against No. 3 Maine will take place on Friday, March 28, at 8:30 p.m. in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Maine is 24-7-6 this season with wins against No. 12 Quinnipiac, No. 7 Boston University and No. 9 Denver. The Black Bears are led by Harrison Scott with 35 points in 37 games played and an elite goalie, Albin Boija, who has a 0.93 save percentage.
This is the first ever meeting between Penn State and Maine as the last time they were supposed to face off in 2021, but covid-19 hit the Black Bears before they could play.
In the Allentown region, the other game is UConn vs. Quinnipiac at 5 p.m. The regional championship will have the two winners against each other on Sunday, March 30, at either 4:30 or 7:30 p.m. and aired on ESPN2.
