Penn State men's and women's hockey held their first set of games outside at Beaver Stadium.
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The excitement of the event led to a swarm of 74,575 fans filling the seats on Saturday afternoon for the men's contest, becoming the second-highest-attended college hockey game in history and eight-largest outdoor hockey game of all-time. The women's team defeated Robert Morris the afternoon before, which was the first of the two outdoor matchups. On Saturday, it was the men's turn.
No. 5 Penn State men's hockey lost the previous night to No. 2 Michigan State at Pegula Ice Arena. The top five matchup was intense hitting the ice for game two of the series, and the Nittany Lions wanted to show out for their devoted fans.
After going down 1-0 in the first period, forward Aiden Fink came out immediately out of the intermission and scored in 13 seconds. Only a few minutes later, though Spartan forward Charlie Stramel put his team back in front. A valiant effort from Penn State with forward Gavin McKenna and Fink, though, kept the blue and white in the game. Both teams left the ice with three goals apiece, hoping for a magical and memorable moment at Beaver Stadium to manifest in the third period.
After another 20 minutes, though, it was a 4-4 tie. Michigan State and the Nittany Lions were conservative towards the back half of the third period, not wanting a mistake to be the deciding factor in such a special environment. The 74,500-plus fans got an extra period of hockey as the game went into overtime.
Two players were on the brink of a hat trick: Stramel and Fink. Unfortunately for Penn State, Stramel stole the spotlight and silenced the crowd at Beaver Stadium. An overtime loss is not something new to Nittany Lions fans, but it didn't make the moment any less bitter. After 63 minutes of time on the game clock, the blue and white with their fans exited the outdoor rink with a bad taste in their mouths.
Penn State loses a heartbreaker in overtime to a top-ranked opponent inside Beaver Stadium…a feeling that has become much too familiar. #WeAre #PennState pic.twitter.com/5TIK3xoOAl
— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) January 31, 2026
As for the Spartans, they left State College with a series sweep against Penn State. This came after a heroic effort the weekend before from the Nittany Lions, who upset Wisconsin with a sweep of their own.
Penn State faces an even tougher challenge moving past the heartbreaking two losses to Michigan State. If No. 2 in the country wasn't enough, the Nittany Lions face No. 1 Michigan on the road next.
Puck drop on Friday, Feb. 13 is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET and the contest can be watched on Big Ten+. Night two at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. starts at 5 p.m. ET and that game can be watched on Big Ten Network.