It isn’t the first time one of his teams was anointed by pundits to be a Frozen Four team, only to wind up in a struggle. It’s happened just as much the opposite way a team that people weren’t sure about rises throughout the season and becomes a contender. After the hot start, things went south in a hurry, a 4-8-2 stretch that included wins against RIT and struggling Wisconsin.
It was more evidence that Penn State was a program to be reckoned with in the future, particularly in their arena. The night before, Minnesota rallied from down an early goal to win the game, but Penn State didn’t go away.