It’s been a long time coming: Reese Laubach and Aiden Fink at home at Penn State

In the two years, Aiden Fink and Reese Laubach have been at Penn State, they have never beaten Wisconsin – until this past weekend.

They were 0-6-0 all-time against the Badgers, including two overtime losses.

Last weekend, the Nittany Lions hit the road to take on the No. 19 Badgers in Madison and were searching for the first win over Wisconsin in Fink and Laubach’s careers.

A split would’ve been good, but Penn State upset and swept Wisconsin in 2-0 and 6-2 bouts.

“It’s something I’ve been waiting for for a long time now,” Laubach said.

The sophomores contributed to both goals in Game 1 – Laubach and Fink assisted each other’s goals.

Then, in Game 2, Laubach netted goals in the second and third periods, while Fink recorded a helper on Charlie Cerrato’s goal and scored one of his own almost three minutes later.

Penn State picked up a sweep, and then, with the snow inbound in Madison, they stayed in town to celebrate.

“You never want to get snowed in from getting back home on a Saturday night,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “But, if you’re going to do it after a sweep is probably a pretty good time to do it. They had a pretty good time.”

It’s a little more special for those two, though – both Laubach and Fink have ties to Wisconsin.

Mike Hastings, the Wisconsin bench boss, was the head coach at Minnesota State, where Laubach was committed initially. Hastings left Minnesota State for the Wisconsin job and officially became the sixth Badgers coach in history on March 30, 2023.

“When that happened, I had to figure some stuff out, and ultimately, I decided that I was going to reopen my commitment,” Laubach said. “Immediately, within a couple days, Coach Gadowsky was on the phone, and I was talking to him.”

The San Jose Sharks prospect announced his commitment to Penn State on his Instagram about two months later.

“I fell in love with it, so before I even left the state again, I committed here,” Laubach said.

In the two years with the program, Laubach has been all over the scoresheet – he was a part of last year’s storied Kid Line centering Fink and Matt DiMarsico, and this year, his 25 points ties Cerrato for team second.

“As three of the youngest guys on the team, I think at first, no one really expects anything,” Laubach said. “We just kind of took off. It was a ton of fun playing with those guys. Obviously, I’m still playing with Finker, but last year was a blast for us.”

Fink was committed to Wisconsin and announced his commitment to Penn State in April 2023.

The Nashville Predators prospect has already left his mark on the program in a year and a half. He leads the team in points with 41 and is tied with Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud for second in the league behind Michigan State’s Isaac Howard with 43. Additionally, Fink has been a Hobey Baker nominee twice.

Laubach said he and Fink went into last weekend craving a win.

“We went into this past weekend with each other knowing we were going to have a pretty big weekend, and we wanted to beat these guys more than anything,” Laubach said.

Penn State returns to Hockey Valley this weekend for a series against Notre Dame. In the second half, it is riding on momentum and its new-found success.

“We’ve been down goals and games or whatever it is, but we’ve found ways to fight back. We haven’t won every single game, but collectively as a team, we’re really finding our groove and finding how to play together,” Laubach said.

Penn State and Notre Dame will drop the puck at 7 p.m. on Feb. 14 and 5 p.m. on Feb. 15. Both games can be streamed on Big Ten Plus and CommRadio.

To keep up with Penn State men’s hockey, follow the CommRadio insiders Adrianna Gallucci (@agallucci17), Josh Bartosik (@Josh_Bartosik) and Giustino Racchini (@GRacchini) on X.

Adrianna Gallucci is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu or adriannagallucci@gmail.com.