“We’re in the best league in college hockey… if we’ve learned anything about ourselves up to this point, it’s that we’re never out of it until the horn sounds.”

Plagued by an 0-8-0 start to Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions were tasked with a critical culture revival; a task that most teams might perceive as daunting, but one that presented as opportunistic for the Blue & White as the thick of their season lay ahead.

“We came back from that first half knowing what we had to do, and we had the determination and plans to accomplish it. We came back with that mindset and have shown drastic improvement since then, but we’re still a long way from our finished product,” said sophomore forward Reese Laubach.

Penn State is hot on the heels of a three weekend homestand, where a 3-1-2 record has aided in the culture revival this team desperately needed, and generated vast momentum. As the Nittany Lions prepare for two vigorous road series at Michigan and Wisconsin, they draw upon the energy created from the home atmosphere and Roar Zone to support them through.

“With that momentum, I think you can credit a lot to the atmosphere and the Roar Zone, we certainly fed off of that,” says head coach Guy Gadowsky. “The other aspect that deserves a lot of credit goes towards what we call ‘Identity Lines’, the guys that are going to be extremely difficult to play against, not giving up anything, and playing a very high tempo game to get us momentum.”

Fighting a lineup that has seen various looks and injuries, the Nittany Lions struggled to find their footing in a conference as competitive as the Big Ten. In the final matchups of the 2024 slate, Penn State dropped four games against conference rivals Michigan and Ohio State, where they were outscored 24-13.

Since the turn of the new year, Penn State has generated a newfound spark and revitalized momentum that has held them in grueling matchups with the nation's top talent. What started as winless triviality has turned to an 11-point swing, consistent with overtime and shootout victories over tenacious opponents like a No.9 Ohio State program, and a No. 1 Michigan State team.

“What has made us successful in the second half is that we’ve been able to put games together. Being able to put the offensive and defensive games together has been the key to our success within the last nine games, and we’re going to have to do that equally to find success down the stretch,” says head coach Guy Gadowsky.

Independent of the success on the scoresheet, Penn State players and staff alone have pleaded their pride for the level of play they’ve been able to accomplish recently.

In the 2025 slate of schedule, the Nittany Lions have knocked off two top-ten teams, and saw thirteen players contribute goals. Aside from these, the team has collectively received praise for the speed, precision and intelligence they’ve played their game with, proving to be a difficult team to compete against.

“The momentum grab has been huge, we’ve been right there but hadn’t seen the reward until recently. Getting that first win over Notre Dame was huge, because it just solidified like ‘hey, we can do this’ for all of us in the locker room,” says freshman J.J. Wiebusch.

Intending to proceed with their conference slate success, the Nittany Lions travel to No. 13 Michigan, with a 7 p.m. puck drop slated for Friday night.

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Men's Hockey Gains Second Half Momentum Following Six-Game Homestand