University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, October 31
3M Arena at Mariucci
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
3-3-2, 1-0-1
4
vs
3
Penn State
2-5-1, 0-1-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn St. | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
Photo by: Matt Krohn
10/31/2026 10:00:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Career night for senior Ludtke behind three points
MINNEAPOLIS - LJ Mooney scored 17 seconds into overtime giving the 18th-ranked Golden Gophers men's hockey team a 4-3 victory over Penn State during the Big Ten Conference series finale inside 3M Arena at Mariucci Saturday night. Tanner Ludtke had a career-high three points and Christian Humphreys added a pair of goals in the home win.
Minnesota (3-3-2 overall, 1-0-1 B1G, 3 points) showed its resiliency after never leading at any point during the contest against the Nittany Lions (2-5-1 overall, 0-1-1 B1G, 3 points) until the winning goal as the teams played into an extra session for a second-straight night.
After Friday's game featured just one goal for each side, the first period alone doubled that total on Saturday as it was 2-2 through the opening 20 minutes. The home side got caught deep in the attacking zone and was punished by a quick counter as the visitors took a 1-0 lead just 81 seconds into the game via a 2-on-1 rush. The margin nearly doubled a minute later after the Gophers were whistled for a penalty and the Nittany Lions rang a shot off the left post.
Instead, the script was flipped as Ludtke buried the tying tally at 5:03 to the far post thanks to a cross-ice feed from Tate Pritchard. The sophomore started the play inside his own blue line by blocking a shot and immediately jumped on the attack with Ludtke to get Minnesota on the board.
Another minor infraction on the Maroon and Gold in the middle of the period gave PSU a 5-on-4 chance, but the penalty killers were up to the task and shut down the opportunity. With 5:11 to play in the opening period, a visiting shot from the point got tipped at eye level and dropped to a waiting stick as the Nittany Lions held a 2-1 lead.
As time was winding down in the period less than two minutes later, Javon Moore intercepted a pass and battled for possession before getting the puck to Ludtke along the left wing. The junior created space for himself and found an open Humphreys in the slot where he ripped home a goal to pull even, 2-2, with 3:25 to play in the first and it remained deadlocked at intermission.
The Nittany Lions pounced early in the second stanza and moved back in front, 3-2, taking advantage of a long rebound at the 3:25 mark. It took less than four minutes for Humphreys and the Gophers to respond again to get the equalizer. Ludtke drove play up the wing and got a pass to Axel Löfgren where the freshman stepped around a defender and put a perfect pass to the tape of Humphreys and he buried his second goal of the night.
Late in the middle frame, a five-minute major penalty on Penn State gave Minnesota a golden opportunity to break the tie. The man advantage carried over into the start of the third period only to see the remainder wiped off the board. The speed of Jacob Kvasnicka nearly put the Maroon and Gold ahead as he raced past a defenseman and attacked the net where his shot had to be turned aside by the Nittany Lions netminder.
The Gophers continued to press their attack and Finn Loftus' shot from the high slot had to be blocked to keep the score tied. The remainder of regulation was a tight-checking battle with neither side giving up space and for the second-consecutive night, the game went into overtime.
After Mooney won the opening faceoff in the 3-on-3 extra session, Tanner Henricks controlled the puck and settled play before starting up the ice. He dropped a pass back to Mooney at his own blue line and the sophomore took over from there, weaving through the visiting skaters like they weren't there before lifting a backhand past the goalie for the game winner just 17 seconds into overtime.
Noteworthy
Seconds after returning to the ice after his first-period penalty expired, Ludtke put away his first goal of the year and later added two assists for his first multi-point game with the Maroon and Gold ... The Lakeville, Minn., native's three points are the most in his 87-game NCAA career and first multi-point effort since Mar. 16, 2024, when he played at Colorado College with Omaha ... For the fourth-straight outing, Humphreys picked up a point as the sophomore secured his second multi-goal performance this season and has a team-leading five goals and six points, all of which have been posted during the point streak ... Mooney picked the perfect time to score his first goal of 2026-27, also netting the first game winner of his career, snapping a nine-game goal drought ... After scoring his first goal of the year last night, Moore picked up another point versus the Nittany Lions, who six of his 24 career points have come against with an assist Saturday ... Löfgren ended a five-game stretch without a point as he collected his third assist as a Gopher, while Henricks and Pritchard each registered their second helpers and third points of the season ... Strahl held strong down the stretch to keep the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard over the final 37 minutes and finished with 25 saves as he moved to 2-0-0 this year ... Minnesota's power play entered the series converting at a 28.6 percent clip but went 0-for-6 against PSU during the weekend ... The Gophers remain unbeaten all-time when playing on Halloween, improving to 8-2-1 on Oct. 31, including a 7-0-1 record at home.
Coach Larson's Comments
"Tonight was much tighter. I think both teams really tried to tighten it up defensively, tried to be better in the neutral zone, take that part of the game away, and it just turned into a tough physical, grindy hockey game," Minnesota head coach Brett Larson said. "But that's where I thought we were at our best. I thought the third period, our o-zone play was fantastic. We kept making the right decisions, getting the buck below the goal line. I thought we tired them out with the third, and I think that paid off for us."
Next Up: Home vs. No. 2 Wisconsin (Nov. 5 & 7)
Minnesota continues its historically-long nine-game homestand when it faces the second-ranked Badgers of Wisconsin for a B1G rivalry series Nov. 5 and 7 from 3M Arena at Mariucci. Game one is set for Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. live on Big Ten Network, while the series will conclude Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. on FOX9+.
Minnesota (3-3-2 overall, 1-0-1 B1G, 3 points) showed its resiliency after never leading at any point during the contest against the Nittany Lions (2-5-1 overall, 0-1-1 B1G, 3 points) until the winning goal as the teams played into an extra session for a second-straight night.
After Friday's game featured just one goal for each side, the first period alone doubled that total on Saturday as it was 2-2 through the opening 20 minutes. The home side got caught deep in the attacking zone and was punished by a quick counter as the visitors took a 1-0 lead just 81 seconds into the game via a 2-on-1 rush. The margin nearly doubled a minute later after the Gophers were whistled for a penalty and the Nittany Lions rang a shot off the left post.
Instead, the script was flipped as Ludtke buried the tying tally at 5:03 to the far post thanks to a cross-ice feed from Tate Pritchard. The sophomore started the play inside his own blue line by blocking a shot and immediately jumped on the attack with Ludtke to get Minnesota on the board.
Another minor infraction on the Maroon and Gold in the middle of the period gave PSU a 5-on-4 chance, but the penalty killers were up to the task and shut down the opportunity. With 5:11 to play in the opening period, a visiting shot from the point got tipped at eye level and dropped to a waiting stick as the Nittany Lions held a 2-1 lead.
As time was winding down in the period less than two minutes later, Javon Moore intercepted a pass and battled for possession before getting the puck to Ludtke along the left wing. The junior created space for himself and found an open Humphreys in the slot where he ripped home a goal to pull even, 2-2, with 3:25 to play in the first and it remained deadlocked at intermission.
The Nittany Lions pounced early in the second stanza and moved back in front, 3-2, taking advantage of a long rebound at the 3:25 mark. It took less than four minutes for Humphreys and the Gophers to respond again to get the equalizer. Ludtke drove play up the wing and got a pass to Axel Löfgren where the freshman stepped around a defender and put a perfect pass to the tape of Humphreys and he buried his second goal of the night.
Late in the middle frame, a five-minute major penalty on Penn State gave Minnesota a golden opportunity to break the tie. The man advantage carried over into the start of the third period only to see the remainder wiped off the board. The speed of Jacob Kvasnicka nearly put the Maroon and Gold ahead as he raced past a defenseman and attacked the net where his shot had to be turned aside by the Nittany Lions netminder.
The Gophers continued to press their attack and Finn Loftus' shot from the high slot had to be blocked to keep the score tied. The remainder of regulation was a tight-checking battle with neither side giving up space and for the second-consecutive night, the game went into overtime.
After Mooney won the opening faceoff in the 3-on-3 extra session, Tanner Henricks controlled the puck and settled play before starting up the ice. He dropped a pass back to Mooney at his own blue line and the sophomore took over from there, weaving through the visiting skaters like they weren't there before lifting a backhand past the goalie for the game winner just 17 seconds into overtime.
Noteworthy
Seconds after returning to the ice after his first-period penalty expired, Ludtke put away his first goal of the year and later added two assists for his first multi-point game with the Maroon and Gold ... The Lakeville, Minn., native's three points are the most in his 87-game NCAA career and first multi-point effort since Mar. 16, 2024, when he played at Colorado College with Omaha ... For the fourth-straight outing, Humphreys picked up a point as the sophomore secured his second multi-goal performance this season and has a team-leading five goals and six points, all of which have been posted during the point streak ... Mooney picked the perfect time to score his first goal of 2026-27, also netting the first game winner of his career, snapping a nine-game goal drought ... After scoring his first goal of the year last night, Moore picked up another point versus the Nittany Lions, who six of his 24 career points have come against with an assist Saturday ... Löfgren ended a five-game stretch without a point as he collected his third assist as a Gopher, while Henricks and Pritchard each registered their second helpers and third points of the season ... Strahl held strong down the stretch to keep the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard over the final 37 minutes and finished with 25 saves as he moved to 2-0-0 this year ... Minnesota's power play entered the series converting at a 28.6 percent clip but went 0-for-6 against PSU during the weekend ... The Gophers remain unbeaten all-time when playing on Halloween, improving to 8-2-1 on Oct. 31, including a 7-0-1 record at home.
Coach Larson's Comments
"Tonight was much tighter. I think both teams really tried to tighten it up defensively, tried to be better in the neutral zone, take that part of the game away, and it just turned into a tough physical, grindy hockey game," Minnesota head coach Brett Larson said. "But that's where I thought we were at our best. I thought the third period, our o-zone play was fantastic. We kept making the right decisions, getting the buck below the goal line. I thought we tired them out with the third, and I think that paid off for us."
Next Up: Home vs. No. 2 Wisconsin (Nov. 5 & 7)
Minnesota continues its historically-long nine-game homestand when it faces the second-ranked Badgers of Wisconsin for a B1G rivalry series Nov. 5 and 7 from 3M Arena at Mariucci. Game one is set for Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. live on Big Ten Network, while the series will conclude Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. on FOX9+.
Players Mentioned
Defense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's HockeyTeam Stats
PSU
MIN
Shots
28
29
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
2
Penalty Mins
17
4
Faceoffs Won
21
29
Game Leaders
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
2
+/-
1
Goals
2
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
Saturday, October 31
Friday, October 30
Wednesday, October 28
Tuesday, October 27