A lot of buzz surrounded Penn State’s top line trio of Matt DiMarsico, Charlie Cerrato and JJ Wiebusch heading into this weekend’s battle with LIU.
With Wiebusch’s record-setting four-goal performance on Oct. 9, and Cerrato’s nation-leading 11 points, it felt like only a matter of time before DiMarsico had a breakout game of his own.
That game came on Friday night, where the junior forward recorded his second hat trick of the season, becoming just the third Nittany Lion all-time to register multiple games with three or more goals, and the first one to ever tally multiple hat-tricks in a single season.
“(DiMarsico’s) kind of a bit of an enigma, like he does so many things, and you don’t know how he does it,” coach Guy Gadowsky said. “His stick is unbelievable. The way he steals pucks is unbelievable. The way he finds a way to just get it done is incredible.”
Like all but one game this season, the opposing team struck first, after LIU’s Garrett Valk fired a shot on net that was deflected by a Nittany Lion defender, and found its way past goaltender Kevin Reidler just five minutes into the first period.
DiMarsico’s first of the night put Penn State on the board shortly following LIU’s second goal, after the forward tapped in a bouncing puck on net fired by sophomore defender Nick Fasica.
With the Sharks’ Anthony Lucarelli called for interference shortly after the blue and white’s tally, sending the unit to the power play with a prime opportunity to even the score, the energy in Pegula seemed to find a new spark.
That spark was quickly extinguished, however, after sophomore forward J.R. Perdion scored shorthanded and put LIU back up by two scores.
DiMarsico’s second of the night once again worked to cut into the Sharks’ lead and breathe some life back into the team. This time assisted by his linemate, Cerrato, the forward pulled back and fired a shot straight past sophomore goaltender Daniel Duris at about the halfway mark of the second frame.
“I think all three of us (on that line) are just high hockey IQ players, and I think right from the jump when we got put together, it just kind of gelled really well,” DiMarsico said. “I think when you have smart hockey players who play the game the right way, a lot of good things happen.”
The two teams headed into the second intermission locked at three apiece.
The Nittany Lions were given a prime opportunity to capitalize after LIU’s Nate Benoit was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for head contact on junior captain Dane Dowiak.
DiMarsico’s history-making goal came about four minutes into the five-minute man advantage, giving the Nittany Lions their first lead of the night from an assist off the faceoff from junior forward Reese Laubach, and earning the forward his second hat trick of the season.
“It’s obviously really cool, but I think my linemates played a big part in that,” DiMarsico said. “I think Charlie and JJ played unbelievably to start the season…so playing with them makes the game easier.”
With Hockey Valley on its feet, a centering feed from defenseman Jackson Smith to forward Aiden Fink on the doorstep sealed Penn State’s 5-4 comeback win.
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