Penn State Hockey Gets Offensive in Opening Win Over Arizona State

The Nittany Lions scored four third-period goals to rally for a victory over the Sun Devils.

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Charlie Cerrato (15) celebrates a goal against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the third period at Mullett Arena. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Penn State scored four unanswered goals in the third period Friday night, topping Arizona State 6-3 in its season-opener in Tempe. The fifth-ranked Nittany Lions got a hat trick from Matt DiMarsico and a career-high points from Charlie Cerrato to begin the most highly anticipated hockey season in program history.

NHL Network broadcast the game live Friday night from ASU's Mullet, with more than 13,000 people watching the YouTube stream live at one point. The game marked the Penn State debut for Gavin McKenna, the defending CHL player of the year who chose to play hockey for the Nittany Lions this season.

McKenna assisted on Penn State's first two goals and drew high praise from NHL Network's E.J. Hradek. Penn State and McKenna return to the ice Saturday night for the second game of the series. NHL Network will broadcast the game live again starting at 8 p.m. ET. The game also will be streamed on NHL Network's YouTube channel.

"A very impressive first period for Gavin McKenna and for @PennStateMHKY... He looks as advertised." -@EJHradek_NHL

McKenna's already got two assists after 20 minutes on NHL Network! 👀 pic.twitter.com/maabGeJ7zE

— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) October 4, 2025

DiMarsico scored his first career hat trick entirely in the third period, leading Penn State's rally from a 3-2 deficit after two periods. DiMarsico tied the game early in the third period via an assist from Cerrato at the near post, then gave the Nittany Lions the lead for good on a one-time shot during an odd-man rush seven minutes later.

Cerrato scored late in third perod on a power play to extend Penn State's lead to 6-3, and DiMarsico finished his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the final 2 minutes.

McKenna assisted on Penn State's first two goals, the first on a lovely dish to Aiden Fink after faking a shot. He then found Cerrato open for a goal 30 seconds before the first period ended, as the Nittany Lions took a 2-0 lead. Arizona State scored three times in the second period, including two goals within 44 seconds.

Penn Stae hockey notes

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna (72) in action against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the third period at Mullett Arena. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

• DiMarsico became just the second player in Penn State history to record a single-period hat trick. He joined Casey Bailey, who achieved the feat in 2015.

• Cerrato tied a single-game Penn State points record, also recorded by Nittany Lions assistant coach Andrew Sturtz in 2017 and Connor McMenamin in 2021.

• Penn State goaltender Kevin Reidler made 35 stops to win his Nittany Lions debut. Penn State outshot the Sun Devils 47-38.

• The Nittany Lions went 2-for-5 on the power play and held Arizona State to a 1-for-6 rate on the man advantage.

• Cerrato and DiMarsico each produced the third multi-goal games of their careers. Cerrato, a sophomore, had a career-high five points. He tied a career high with three assists.

• Fink, the team's top returning scorer, had a goal and two assists for the 25th multi-point game of his career. He has 39 career goals, two shy of 10th on Penn State's career list.

• JJ Wiebusch made three assists to tie his career-high.