Penn State faces toughest task of season in pending battle with top-seeded Maine – The Daily Collegian

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The Nittany Lions celebrate a goal during the men’s hockey game against Minnesota on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions beat the Golden Gophers 6-3 
Forward Aiden Fink (18) shoots the puck during the Penn State men’s hockey playoff game against Michigan on Friday, March 7, 2025 in the Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mi. The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines 6-5 in overtime.
Forward Charlie Cerrato (15) shoots the puck during the Penn State men’s hockey playoff game against Michigan on Friday, March 7, 2025 in the Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mi. The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines 6-5 in overtime.
The Nittany Lions celebrate a goal during the men’s hockey game against Minnesota on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions beat the Golden Gophers 6-3 
Following Western Michigan’s nail-biting 4-2 victory over North Dakota last Saturday, Penn State officially clinched its fourth NCAA Tournament berth in program history — and its first since 2023.
The Nittany Lion faithful will make the trip to Allentown, but won’t be in for a walk in the park, as the blue and white is set to face arguably its most complete opponent all season: Maine.
Following an improbable turnaround and dominant 2025 calendar year, the Nittany Lions earned an NCAA Tournament bid, but now they’ll play a gauntlet if they want to advance to St. Louis for the Frozen Four.
They will battle the No. 3 overall seed, Maine, and if they defeat the Black Bears, they would take on the winner of UConn, the Hockey East runner-up, and Quinnipiac, a team they lost to early in the season.
No. 4 seed Penn State is slated to host No. 1 seed Maine in the Allentown Regional Semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the PPL Center, airing on ESPN2.
Forward Charlie Cerrato (15) shoots the puck during the Penn State men’s hockey playoff game against Michigan on Friday, March 7, 2025 in the Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mi. The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines 6-5 in overtime.
The Black Bears are a completely different animal compared to any opponent Penn State has faced this season. They are tremendous skaters, limit turnovers and play lockdown defense. Behind Maine’s superb defensive core is its standout goaltender and Richter Award finalist, Albin Boija.
Much like the Nittany Lions’ past opponents — Michigan State with Trey Augustine, Minnesota with Liam Souliere and Ohio State with Kristoffer Eberly — Boija is a game-changer between the pipes and is a big reason for the Black Bears’ success.
The Swedish netminder is fifth nationally with a 1.76 goals-against average and eighth in the country with a .930 save percentage. His four shutouts are tied with Penn State goaltender Arsenii Sergeev for fourth in the nation.
Aside from goaltending, Maine perfectly embodies the blueprint coaches seek when building a team. The Black Bears consistently get pucks to the net, ranking fifth nationally with 1,293 shots, while limiting their opponents on the other end of the ice, allowing just 945 shots — the ninth fewest in the country.
Maine’s offense is paced by two senior forwards.
Maine’s leading scorer, Harrison Scott, is amid a career year in his second season donning the Black Bear uniform. The senior boasts career highs in goals (18), assists (17), points (35), power-play goals (6) and net rating (+16), along with recording 27 more shots than his previous best of 102. Scott is an all-around offensive talent, as he’s often seen controlling play in the offensive zone, but will also be found sitting netfront and getting greasy goals around the crease.
Maine’s second senior forward, Taylor Makar, who’s the brother of Norris-Trophy-winning defenseman and Stanley Cup champion Cale Makar, uses his elite skating ability to create havoc offensively. The 24-year-old and Colorado Avalanche draftee has shattered his previous career highs and enters the NCAA Tournament on a hot streak, scoring twice in the Hockey East Championship against UConn.
In addition to Scott and Makar, Maine sports a well-balanced offensive attack, consisting of 14 double-digit point-getters, including six 20-point and two 30-point scorers. Its 3.32 goals per game ranks 14th nationally — below seventh-ranked Penn State, which boasts a 3.51 — with its 1.43 scoring margin placing seventh in the country.
Despite Maine’s abundance of talent, the Black Bears will be the first ranked team Penn State plays this season that has fewer NHL draftees. The blue and white’s three prospects — Aiden Fink, Reese Laubach and Sergeev — outnumbers Maine’s only NHL prospect, Makar.
Forward Aiden Fink (18) shoots the puck during the Penn State men’s hockey playoff game against Michigan on Friday, March 7, 2025 in the Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mi. The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines 6-5 in overtime.
First and foremost, the blue and white will need to stay out of the box and win the special teams battle if it wants any chance of advancing to the Allentown Regional Final.
The area Penn State has struggled in all season, limiting penalties, plays directly into one of Maine’s strengths.
The Black Bears sit fifth nationally in power-play opportunities with 135, while the blue and white’s 132 power-play opportunities allowed ranks sixth-most in the country. Despite this disparity, Maine only boasts a 21.5% power-play percentage, but Penn State will be without one of its most reliable penalty killers — defenseman Carter Schade.
On the opposite side of the ice, the Black Bears sport the 10th-best penalty kill in the country and are tied for fourth-most shorthanded goals in the nation with seven, just one shy of the Nittany Lions’ eight.
The deciding factor in Friday’s contest could be Penn State’s ability to start fast.
Maine is nearly unbeatable when it scores first, boasting a 20-1 record this season, but a manageable 4-6-6 record follows when its opponent records the initial tally. If the blue and white can get its home crowd into the game and take an early lead, its odds of advancing skyrocket.
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