No. 6 Penn State hockey will welcome Long Island University (LIU) to Pegula Ice Arena for a pair of games this weekend as the Nittany Lions continue non-conference action. The Sharks are in their sixth season as an NCAA program and are one of five independent teams.
Who: LIU Sharks
When: Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18
Where: Pegula Ice Arena, State College, PA
Time: 7:30pm (Friday), 6pm (Saturday)
TV: Big Ten Plus (both games)
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Matt DiMarsico-Charlie Cerrato-JJ Wiebusch
Gavin McKenna-Dane Dowiak-Aiden Fink
Ben Schoen-Nic Chin-Degraves-Reese Laubach
Shea Van Olm-Luke Misa-Lev Katzin
Nick Fascia-Mac Gadowsky
Jackson Smith-Jarod Crespo
Carter Schade-Casey Aman
Kevin Reidler
Josh Fleming
Brett Riley was the program’s first coach from 2020 through 2025 until he left for the Ferris State job. His cousin, Brendan Riley, takes over as the youngest active coach in the NCAA (29). LIU dropped a hard-fought 4-2 contest to Boston University and split with Canisius in the first three games of the regular season.
LIU tied for 11th in the NCAA in goal scoring last season and scored 10 goals in the first three games of this season. Offense is not an issue for this Sharks team. Isaac Lambert (7 goals in 2024-25) is the leading returning scorer for LIU after the top four goal scorers from last year’s team departed the program. Additionally, JR Perdion, Brett Rylance, and Noah Serdachny all have two goals in the first three games this season. Despite the scoring production turnover, this offense is dangerous and put up 38 shots on goal against Boston University. I expect Penn State to get the Sharks’ best shot this weekend as LIU looks to pull the upset.
The Sharks have allowed just 27.3 shots on goal per game so far this season and ranked third in the NCAA last season in shots on goal allowed per game (24). Daniel Duris will be the likely starter in net after posting a .909 save percentage in his first two starts of the season, including the loss to Boston University. The sophomore has made just six career starts entering this weekend, and the Nittany Lions’ high-flying offense should provide a significant challenge.
LIU is tied for 21st on the power play at 20%, and the penalty kill ranks just 52nd at 63.6%. The Sharks will need to stay disciplined to have any chance of upsetting Penn State.
Penn State lost focus last Thursday against Clarkson, leading to the team’s first loss of the season. LIU is not as good as Clarkson, but there have been several high-profile upsets across the sport within the last two weeks. The Sharks showed they can play up to their competition against Boston University, and they will certainly bring the same effort against Penn State. However, Penn State’s firepower on offense should be enough to keep the team in the win column.