Penn State’s unlikely Frozen Four run ended in a heartbreak at the hands of Boston University. 

Despite the agonizing defeat, a new hope became prevalent in State College. Eight skaters made their departures, but not only are the Nittany Lions returning their top four point scorers, the Frozen Four run helped bring in a plethora of new talent to Hockey Valley. 

As Penn State enters the 2025-26 season with championship aspirations, here’s how the team should line up. 

Projected Lines:

First line: Shea Van Olm – Reese Laubach – Aiden Fink

Reasoning: 

Let’s just get the obvious out of the way — Reese Laubach will be centering Aiden Fink. The rising juniors have paired well together throughout the past two seasons and the massive uptick in production from Fink in Year 2 was heavily correlated to how the two play off each other. 

Manning the left wing is the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) leading goalscorer Shea Van Olm. Standing 6-foot-1, the lefty forward is a dominant offensive presence that makes a living standing netfront. 

Van Olm is a near-perfect replacement for the departure of Danny Dzhaniyev, adding not only elite scoring, but also physicality to a line that struggled with it in last season’s Frozen Four run. 

Second line: Matt DiMarsico – Charlie Cerrato – JJ Wiebusch

Reasoning:

Penn State’s second line took the NCAA by storm last year. Despite being deemed as the team’s ‘second line,’ Matt DiMarsico, Charlie Cerrato and JJ Wiebusch were clearly the most productive unit. The trio ranked 2-4 on the club in points and led the team in postseason scoring by a wide margin.

While the production from last season was eye-catching, the line consisted of two freshmen and a sophomore. Another offseason of growth and an extra year to build chemistry could take this unit to new heights, and there is no doubt coach Guy Gadowsky runs it back in 2025. 

Third line: Lev Katzin – Luke Misa – Andrew Kuzma

Reasoning:

While the first two lines consist of familiar faces, the third could be quite the opposite. Two newcomers — Lev Katzin and Luke Misa — headline this unit, with Andrew Kuzma rounding it out at the right wing. 

Both Katzin and Misa play a rather similar game. Although undersized, standing 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10 respectively, both forwards are dynamic on offense and create a multitude of high-danger scoring chances. The Eliteprospects 2024 NHL draft guide mentions “speed is the name of Misa’s game” and that he’s “dynamite in transition, impacting the puck on every shift.”

Katzin, while dangerous at even strength, does a ton of his damage on the man-advantage. According to Neutral Zone, an in-depth amatuer scouting resource, Katzin “consistently manipulates defenders with body position and edge work, and finds seams with purpose on the power play.” The 18-year-old has a middle-round draft grade and his speed and playmaking will pair well with Misa, making the unit a handful in transition. 

Despite being a true center, slotting into the right wing position should be Kuzma. The rising sophomore underwent heart surgery on Nov. 22, 2024, missing his entire freshman campaign. However, he was seen skating in a red non-contact jersey during practice prior to the Allentown Regionals. The 20-year-old adds some size to this trio and a prominent presence netfront. 

Fourth line: Dane Dowiak – Keaton Peters – Ben Schoen

Rounding out the blue and white’s depth chart, Dane Dowiak, Keaton Peters and Ben Schoen could be a gritty fourth line. With a potential debate between who gets the fourth center position — Schoen, Peters, Kuzma or Nicholas DeGraves — Guy Gadowsky should stick Peters in the middle. 

Penn State was a dominant faceoff team and Peters was a large part of it, winning 54.9% of his draws. As the season waned and everyone was healthy, Guy Gadowsky went with Dowiak on the left wing and Peters in the middle consistently. 

Schoen, despite being a center, is the easy choice to kick out to the right wing due to his natural scoring ability. 

Projected Defense Pairings:

First pairing: Jackson Smith – Nolan Collins

Reasoning:

Sunday afternoon, Penn State received a commitment from Jackson Smith, a top-10 projected 2025 NHL entry draft pick. His elite skating and offensive prowess will be hard to handle, so pairing him with a 6-foot-4, stout right-handed defense in Nolan Collins would make this defense pairing quite hard to score on. 

Second pairing: Cade Christenson – Jarod Crespo

Reasoning:

With Simon Mack departing for the AHL and Jimmy Dowd Jr. finishing his career with the Nittany Lions, both Cade Christenson and Jarod Crespo are out to find a new partner to man the blue line. Pairing arguably Penn State’s best defensive defenseman in Christenson and a veteran in Crespo is an ideal solution for Guy Gadowsky. 

Third pairing: Mac Gadowsky – Casey Aman

Reasoning:

Garnering a commitment from a left-handed defenseman in Smith potentially bumps Mac Gadowsky down to the third defense pairing, as Christenson also shoots with his left hand. Carter Schade, Casey Aman’s 2024-25 defense partner, gets replaced by a top-10 Hobey Baker finalist and one of the best offensive defenseman in the country. 

Partnering Mac Gadowsky with Aman will give some defensive stability to this pairing as Gadowsky is neither physical nor dominant on the defensive side of the puck. 

Projected Goaltenders:

Starting netminder: Kevin Reidler

Backup netminder: Josh Fleming

Third-string netminder: John Seifarth

Reasoning:

Guy Gadowsky got his guy in Kevin Reidler immediately after former Penn State goaltender Arsenii Sergeev inked a contract with the Calgary Flames. Standing 6-foot-6, the Ottawa Senators draftee will man the pipes for the Nittany Lions in 2025 barring injury. 

Josh Fleming and John Seifarth are the obvious backups with Noah Grannan the odd-man out following a tough 2024-25 season.

MORE HOCKEY CONTENT

After a promising 2024-25 campaign, a Nittany Lion is expected an invitation to a professional development camp.

JJ Wiebusch is among many anticipated to receive an invite to the New York Rangers’ development camp this summer, according to a report by New York Post reporter Mollie Walker.

The Wisconsin native ranked third on Penn State in points with 33 in his freshman campaign.

Wiebusch, 21, is ineligible for the 2025 NHL entry draft due to his age. North American born players must be between the ages 18-20 to be eligible.

MORE HOCKEY COVERAGE

STANDISH, Maine – The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced the recipients of the 2025 Baseball Academic All-District honors on Tuesday afternoon, recognizing the nation’s top student-athletes for their performance both on the field and in the classroom. Two Saint Joseph’s College of Maine baseball players were selected: Senior Logan Dee (Laconia, N.H.) and Junior Luke Doughty (York, Maine.) received the honors.

To qualify for the CSC Academic All-District Team, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore in academic standing and maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.50 or higher. On the field, student-athletes must have competed in 90% of their team’s games or started in at least 66% of the total games played. For pitchers, eligibility requires a minimum of 35 innings pitched or appearances in at least 17 games.

Dee appeared in 11 games and started eight, pitching a total of 49.1 innings. He recorded a 2-1 record with a 4.38 ERA and totaled 42 strikeouts, ranking second on the team in innings pitched and third in strikeouts. Highlights of his season include three strikeouts and one run allowed over 4.0 innings at Bates (Mar. 18), a career-long 8.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts vs. Saint Joseph (Conn.) (Apr. 4), 6.1 innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts vs. Rivier (Apr. 17), and a career-high nine strikeouts in 7.0 innings at New England College (Apr. 27).

Doughty played in 34 games, starting 32, and finished the season with a .261 batting average. He collected 29 hits, 23 runs, 13 walks, 12 RBIs, and one stolen base, ranking second on the team in walks. Highlights of his season include two hits, a double, a run, and an RBI in the opener vs. Penn State Brandywine (Mar. 9), a career-matching three hits, two runs, and two RBIs vs. Penn State Abington (Mar. 14), another three-hit game at Lasell (Mar. 22), and a strong all-around performance vs. Rivier (Apr. 17) with two hits, two runs, an RBI, a walk, and a stolen base.

The CSC honors reflect the steady contributions of these two student-athletes over the course of the 2025 season. Saint Joseph’s posted a 20-19 overall record, including an 10-7 mark in conference play, under the watch of 33rd-year Head Coach Will Sanborn ’86 this 2025 season.

Read the full CSC Release HERE

The USC Trojans landed a major recruiting victory with the commitment of five-star tight end Mark Bowman, a Mater Dei standout and the No. 1 player at his position in the 2026 class. Bowman’s decision to join the Trojans not only strengthens USC’s grip on the top recruiting class in the country, but it also comes with one of the more lucrative Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) projections ever for a high school football player.

According to reports from On3’s Scott Schrader, Bowman could earn between $8 million and $10 million in NIL during his time spent at USC. Schrader made clear that those figures were not confirmed by USC or Bowman directly, but the offers being discussed would place him among the highest-valued high school athletes in the modern NIL era.

The financial package reportedly includes structured payments that could begin before Early National Signing Day, with additional benchmarks throughout his collegiate career. That puts Bowman in rare territory, with an NIL opportunity on par with or even exceeding what most college skill players make over a full four-year span.

Olympic Gymnast Suni Lee’s Immediate Reaction to Friend’s College Acceptance originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Olympic gymnast Suni Lee was right by her best friend Katie Fang’s side for a major milestone.

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On Monday afternoon, Fang, a 19-year-old influencer, posted a TikTok capturing the moment she learned she’d been accepted into New York University. Sitting beside her in her NYC apartment, Lee joined in the celebration as the two screamed with excitement and hugged in pure joy.

“I know you don’t like being touched, but can we hold hands?” Fang asked Lee right before opening her letter. The duo held hands and counted down from five before the influencer opened her decision portal.

When the two realized Fang got in, the two friends screamed, jumped around with joy and hugged each other. At one point, Fang ran back to her computer to reread the acceptance letter, then turned toward the window, lifted her shirt and flashed her neighbors. Meanwhile, the 22-year-old gymnast starts laughing right in front of the camera, clearly just as thrilled.

Minutes after the video was shared to social media, Lee commented on Fang’s post, saying “go bobcats !!!” with two purple hearts. In less than twelve hours of the TikTok going live, it has hit almost one million views and 200,000 likes.

Fang and Lee have been close friends since the 22-year-old gymnast moved to New York in the fall of 2024. They frequently post with each other on TikTok and Instagram, plus recently got tattoos together.

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After a successful run at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where Lee won a bronze medal in the uneven bars final and helped Team USA secure gold, the gymnast is now living her life in the Big Apple. She was born and raised in St Paul, Minnesota.

Related: Simone Biles Had Four Words for Suni Lee in New Post

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.

**Release courtesy of Colorado College Sports information

–Current four-year women’s lacrosse assistant coach, Ashley Johnson, has been named the second head coach in Colorado College women’s lacrosse history, Vice President and Director of Athletics Lesley Irvine announced Monday, June 2.

Johnson has spent the last four seasons as the top assistant under Susan “Stuey” Stuart, who retired at the end of the 2025 season after 31 years as the program’s only head coach.

 

“Women’s Lacrosse has an incredible history of success here at Colorado College and has established itself as one of the best in the nation,” Irvine said. “AJ has been a huge part of that momentum during her recent time here and is absolutely ready for this opportunity. I look forward to honoring the legacy that Stuey helped build while working with AJ to leverage the foundation to continue to chase championships.”

 

Originally from Arvada, Colo., Johnson has over 15 years of coaching experience at the DIII, DI, and national team levels. In her four seasons as the assistant coach at CC, the Tigers compiled a 51-28 record, culminating in back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2024.

 

“Passing the torch to AJ makes me so excited for her and the lacrosse program,” Stuart said. “She is an exceptional coach who has elevated the program since she arrived because of her attention to detail in all aspects of the job. Her understanding of life on the block plan and how to recruit student-athletes who will thrive in the high-energy environment of Colorado College will make the transition seamless for our incoming class and our current players.”

 

CC has gone 34-19 in the last two years and won consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. In 2025, the Tigers tied a program record for wins in a season with an 18-4 record and Johnson and Stuart were named the WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year.

 

“I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Stuey,” Johnson said. “Her leadership, friendship and belief in me as an assistant coach have helped prepare me for this next step. Her dedication to this program is a prominent foundation, with over 30 years of tradition, and that is something to cherish. I know I am stepping into something special, and I don’t take that lightly. I look forward to elevating and empowering our current student-athletes and leading this team into its next great chapter.”

 

Johnson has helped produce three All-Americans, 28 all-region selections and 25 all-conference honorees. CC has had eight players win major conference awards between the SCAC and WIAC.

 

“I want to also sincerely thank Lesley Irvine for her support and trust in my vision for the future of CC women’s lacrosse,” Johnson said. “I’m honored to lead Colorado College as the next head coach. This transition is exciting, and I deeply value our shared vision for excellence and support of our student-athletes on and off the field.”

 

Before Colorado College, Johnson spent six seasons at the University of California-Davis, where she served as the top assistant since the fall of 2015. While at Davis, Johnson was the offensive coordinator, draw specialist and goaltender coach, as well as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

 

In 2021, she helped guide the Aggies to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship as well as their third consecutive No. 1 seed for the MPSF Tournament. She helped lead UC Davis to a 12-4 record, the program’s best since 2004, and coached the league’s player of the year as well as seven first-team all-MPSF selections.

 

Prior to Davis, Johnson served two seasons as the assistant at Marist College (2013-15) and three at Wagner College (2010-13), where she began her coaching career as a graduate assistant and was quickly promoted to first assistant.

 

Johnson has coached at the national team level most recently with Team Mexico in the 2024 U20 Women’s Lacrosse Championship in Hong Kong. She was also the assistant coach of the Ugandan National Team in 2020.

 

She played DI lacrosse at Mount St. Mary’s University, where she was named a first-team All-NEC selection as an attacker in 2010 and a midfielder in 2008.

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