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BIG TEN HOCKEY
• The 2025 Big Ten Hockey Tournament continues Saturday with semifinals on campus sites. No. 1 seed Michigan State will host No. 7 seed Notre Dame at 6 p.m. ET and No. 3 seed Ohio State encounters No. 5 seed Penn State at 8:30 p.m. ET in Columbus. Both games will be carried on the Big Ten Network. The winners advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday, March 22, to be hosted by the highest remaining seed.
• The Big Ten Tournament opened with best-of-three quarterfinal series last weekend and produced a pair of upsets. Visiting teams won all three games on Friday and Penn State became the first team to sweep on the road when it defeated No. 4 seed Michigan on Saturday. In a decisive third game, Notre Dame became the second-straight No. 7 seed to win a quarterfinal series, downing Minnesota on its home ice. The loss marked just the second time in 12 years that Minnesota did not reach the semifinals. Meanwhile, No. 7 seeds are now 4-13 all-time in tournament play. On Sunday evening, Ohio State won its second elimination game in as many nights to complete a series comeback against No. 6 seed Wisconsin. The Badgers were 89 seconds away from a sweep Saturday before OSU scored an extra skater goal and won in overtime to force a third game.
A look at Saturday’s semifinals:
No. 7 seed Notre Dame (12-24-1) at No. 1 seed Michigan State (24-6-4)
Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson earned his 600th win on Friday and hopes to lead the Irish to their first Big Ten Final since 2019. No. 2/2-ranked Michigan State earned a bye last week and went 4-0-0 against Notre Dame during the regular season. The teams have met five times in the Big Ten Tournament, most recently in the 2023 quarterfinals, which produced MSU’s first-ever BTT win and series win. Notre Dame leads all-time, 3-2.
No. 5 seed Penn State (20-12-4) at No. 3 seed Ohio State (23-12-2)
Freshman JJ Wiebusch of Penn State made the most of his Big Ten postseason debut, scoring the seventh hat trick in tournament history. His between-the-legs goal was the overtime winner Friday and he added another tally on Saturday. No. 11/11 Penn State is unbeaten in 17 of 20 games (13-3-4) since Jan. 1. No. 10/10 Ohio State is the only Big Ten team that has not won a Big Ten Tournament but the Buckeyes do own the second-most wins (17) in tournament play. OSU took the season series from PSU, 2-1-1, and the programs have split eight games in the BTT with the Buckeyes most recently capturing a 2023 quarterfinal series, two-games-to-one.
• Big Ten Hockey Postseason Awards — all-conference teams, the all-freshman team and individual award winners — will be announced live on the BTN’s Big Ten Today on Tuesday, March 18. Balloting is conducted by conference head coaches and a media panel.
Individual awards winners to be revealed on March 18
ROSEMONT, lll. – The Big Ten Conference has announced its finalists for hockey postseason individual awards. The award winners and All-Big Ten teams, as selected by the conference’s coaches and a media panel, will be announced March 18 on the Big Ten Network’s Big Ten Today.
2024-25 BIG TEN HOCKEY
AWARDS FINALISTS:
Player of the Year
Isaac Howard, F, MSU
Jimmy Snuggerud, F, MINN
Aiden Fink, PSU
Defensive Player of the Year
Matt Basgall, D, MSU
Sam Rinzel, D, MINN
Simon Mack, D, PSU
Goaltender of the Year
Trey Augustine, MSU
Logan Terness, OSU
Arsenii Sergeev, PSU
Freshman of the Year
Michael Hage, F, MICH
Charlie Cerrato, F, PSU
Gavin Morrissey, F, WIS
Coach of the Year
Adam Nightingale, MSU
Steve Rohlik, OSU
Guy Gadowsky, PSU
The 2025 Big Ten Hockey Tournament continues Saturday (March 15) with semifinals pairing No. 7 seed Notre Dame at No. 1 seed Michigan State (6 p.m. ET) and No. 5 seed Penn State visiting No. 3 seed Ohio State (8:30 p.m. ET). Both games will be carried by the Big Ten Network and streamed on connected devices via the FOX Sports App.
