ALBANY, N.Y. — On a night when goals were hard to come by, Hunter Anderson made sure his chance did not go to waste.
Anderson turned a defensive-zone turnover into the game-winning goal at 14:47 of the third period, and Minnesota Duluth held on for a 3-1 win over Penn State in the opening round of the NCAA Albany Regional on Friday at MVP Arena.
Minnesota Duluth (24-14-1) advances to face Michigan in the regional final on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are seeking their eighth trip to the Frozen Four and first since 2021.
The winning play developed when Grayden Siepmann got enough of his stick on an attempted clear by Penn State goalie Josh Fleming, sending the puck directly to Anderson, who wristed it past Fleming for his seventh goal of the season.
“(Siepmann) had a good read on the wall,” Anderson said. “I just turned and knew I had to get on net. I just kind of picked my hole.”
Ty Hanson added an empty-net goal at 19:59.
“I thought we kind of found our game as it went on,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re getting into a rhythm, but I thought our guys got better as the game went on and had a good third period.”
Both goaltenders turned in strong performances. Minnesota Duluth’s Adam Gajan made 29 saves, while Fleming stopped 36 shots.
The Nittany Lions took a 1-0 lead at 8:37 of the first period. Casey Aman’s pass from behind the goal line and across the front of the net found Shea Van Olm alone near the left faceoff circle. After some slick stickwork, Van Olm fired the puck over Gajan’s blocker.
The Bulldogs got the equalizer later in the period on Max Plante’s 25th goal of the season. From the right faceoff circle, Zam Plante found his brother in front of the net, and Max redirected the pass home at 15:01 to make it 1-1.
“Zam made an unbelievable pass,” Max Plante said. “I happened to get a stick on it and went five-hole. But I mean, Zam’s been making big plays all playoffs, so he’s been a lot of fun to play with.”
Penn State, the only Big Ten team not to advance to a regional final in this year’s tournament, finished its season 21-14-2. The Nittany Lions were looking to make their second straight Frozen Four after reaching their first last season.
“I thought both goaltenders were extremely good, we just couldn’t get the last one past Adam,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. “But it was a good hockey game and a special year for Penn State. (I’m) so proud of the guys for grinding through all of it.”