Penn State hockey falls to Boston University in program’s Frozen Four debut
The story of the 2024-25 Penn State hockey team will have to sign off with a word such as “remarkable” or “unprecedented,” which isn’t such a bad way to be remembered. The Nittany Lions and their fans wanted the word “miraculous” to apply, but, in the end, it just wasn’t in the vocabulary.
Despite an effort that got stronger as the game went along, the Nittany Lions’ yellow brick road stopped just short of Oz in an NCAA Frozen Four semifinal game at Enterprise Center Thursday night, 3-1 to the Boston University Terriers.
Freshman Nic DeGraves’ goal early in the third period cut BU’s 2-0 lead in half, rousing the Nittany Lions’ fans from their seats. But the equalizer just never came, and Penn State’s season finished at 23-14-4.
“It’s always tough when a season ends, but I just can’t help but feel so grateful and positive about this year and this team,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. “We were left for dead not long ago, and for these guys to come back and play in St. Louis — and how they did it (makes them) such great representatives of the university, which is really important at Penn State, and I learned a lesson from them this year. They stuck together and stayed positive in the hardest times when it would have been really easy not to. They’re really good men and I’m really proud to be a part of this group.”
This was the furthest the Penn State hockey program, just 13 years old in Division 1, had ever gotten. And it’s a squad that will be remembered fondly for a ride that went much longer than expected — especially after an 0-7-2 start in the Big Ten Conference.
“Obviously, it was a great year for us and I think it’s massive for our program,” sophomore right wing Aiden Fink said. “It is difficult losing, but the senior class did an unbelievable job with leadership, showing us the way. We just have to learn off this and come back next year.”
The game started 80 minutes later than originally scheduled, because the first game of the day — Denver against Western Michigan — went to double overtime. So, with the nearly 10 p.m. EST puck drop, the game already had kind of a heavy-eyed feel to it.
Penn State’s first-period play did nothing to curb that sentiment. The Nittany Lions were a step slower than the Terriers in the first few minutes, and only had four shots on goal in the first 15 minutes, before finishing the period with seven.
There just seemed to be a lack of fire to the Nittany Lions’ demeanor coming out of the box. Did all that sitting around the locker room waiting for the first game to finish have something to do with that?
“No, our guys seemed loose. I don’t think that had anything to do with that,” Gadowsky said. “I will say, we didn’t play our best. But at the same time we had a couple breakaways but we just didn’t finish.”
Penn State goalie Arsenii Sergeev, however, kept the game scoreless after the first 20 minutes, making 11 saves. He bailed out teammates who left the slot area in front of the net too loosely guarded at times.
After so much excellence in the first period, it came as a surprise when Sergeev bobbled a shot that led to the Terriers’ first goal, at 1:35 of the second. Sergeev stopped a long side-angle shot from Matt Copponi, but never wrapped the puck up enough for a whistle. BU’s Jack Hughes pounced on the loose puck in the crease and put it home.
Penn State had a power-play chance near the middle of the period and put some pressure on Terriers goalie Mikhail Yegorov, but couldn’t cash in. Soon after the Terriers killed off the power play, BU defenseman Cole Hutson grabbed a loose puck in his own end and burst up the middle on a 2-on-1 with Cole Eiserman.
Hutson took the left lane and dished a crossing pass that Eiserman one-timed into the net for a 2-0 Terriers lead at 10:44.
After DeGraves scored to finally get Penn State on the board, their momentum was stalled somewhat because of a penalty to put them shorthanded close to midway through the third.
Penn State outshot the Terriers 18-9 in the third, and had a couple of good chances in the final 10 minutes, but the tying goal just didn’t happen.
“When we came out and got one early, I really thought that we were going to get the snowball rolling,” Gadowsky said. “But they found a way to keep the puck out of the net. I liked everything we did — except finish.”
While there were tears in the eyes of a few Nittany Lions players in the handshake line, there’s certainly no shame about a season that will be looked back upon with fondness in Happy Valley.
“Just to be able to wear the Penn State crest the past five years, it means everything to me,” senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. said.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 12:28 AM.