NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOUR: PENN STATE VS BOSTON U.

April 9, 2025

Guy Gadowsky

Simon Mack

Matt DiMarsico

Carson Dyck

Enterprise Center

Penn State Nitanny Lions

Semifinal Pregame Media Conference

MODERATOR: All right. We will just start with some opening thoughts from Coach Gadowsky.

GUY GADOWSKY: Obviously if you're playing at this time of the year feeling pretty good about yourselves and we are. It's very special the first time to be in the Frozen Four for any program, for us the way it happened bu us having a slow start and the guys having to stick together so much I think it's extra special, so extremely honored to be here.

Q. Guy, just obviously this being the first time you're here, but just kind of going back to the very beginnings of the program, you know, how tall of a task did you feel it was at that time to get to this level and did you ever have any doubts that you guys would potentially make it to this point in your existence?

GUY GADOWSKY: I don't think anybody had any doubts. It's Penn State and they've proved to be pretty successful athletically. The support that our administration gives all student-athletes is extreme, so I think everybody thought it would happen. Jumping into the Big Ten and that conference earlier than we were supposed to was a little bit daunting, but that's why you have guys that don't mind that challenge and they're the ones who built the foundation for this to happen.

Q. This one is for you, Matt. You have a lot of connections with a couple of the players on BU, especially Brandon Svoboda. You guys go back to the Penn's elite days. What were you guys talking about leading up to this match-up after finding out you'd be playing against each other?

MATT DiMARSICO: Yeah, it's definitely strange to play against someone you're close with from the summer and from my home down but I think it's been positive. We're pretty close friends so it's more like we'll see you out there. Nothing too much more said.

Q. Carson, a lot was mentioned about the point in the year where you lost nine in a row you started having meetings with individual guys. What was going through your mind at the time and what was your message when you had those individual meetings the rest of the group?

CARSON DYCK: Honestly we came together as a class and we decided to do those meetings. It stemmed from the fact that we knew it was our last year as a class and we didn't want to leave with my regrets. We knew we had the team to do it, it was just gathering everyone together and figuring out their roles and you think we accomplished that when we met with everyone and everybody jumped on ship.

MODERATOR: Anybody been to St. Louis before? Have you been up in The Arch?

GUY GADOWSKY: I have not.

MODERATOR: Do you intend to go today?

GUY GADOWSKY: I'm scared of heights.

MODERATOR: Just look at it from the ground. Perfect.

Q. Guy, what specifically about BU are you going to have to take away for you guys to be successful tomorrow?

GUY GADOWSKY: No matter what way you slice it, you're going to face a very good team who's hot. We like to put ourselves in that category as well. That's not anything surprising. We expect that of anybody we play this time of year so the focus is on us. It has been throughout this whole run that these guys refocused themselves to be successful. Nothing has changed. We're keeping it about us.

Q. Simon, I wonder if you can give us a sense of what the feeling has been like on campus since you guys have earned this spot and how you true to keep this to be a normal game even though you're in a room like this in a building like this and everything that goes with being in the Frozen Four.

SIMON MACK: Yeah, the buzz has been absolutely electric and not just on campus, especially in Allentown at the regional and we had a slice of the student section there and it was a tremendous help from us and just the support we received from alumni, the entire Penn State community has been outstanding. It's really helped thrive our second half push and obviously helped get us to the Frozen Four.

MODERATOR: Where is everybody gathering that's not coming here back home? What's the hot spot?

CARSON DYCK: At the rink. They're having a showing at the Pegula, actually.

MODERATOR: That'll be fun.

Q. Matt, how many times have you watched or re-watched your goal from the other game? And can you now remember what was going through your mind afterwards or the emotions you were feeling now that it's been a little bit?

MATT DiMARSICO: Definitely watched it a couple of times. Probably the coolest goal I've ever scored in my life. I think it was cool with the community, too. Like we said earlier, first time going to the Frozen Four just that feeling to be able to kind of bring that to everybody, especially the alumni, too, and just the feeling I went through was unbelievable. Seeing all your teammates jumping over the board to congratulate you, holding the banner, coming here, it's all been great.

Q. Guy, have you tried to keep this to be like a normal game for them even though you're in the spotlight of a Frozen Four? And how have you done that?

GUY GADOWSKY: Well, we've been in playoff mode for a pretty long time here, so we believe that our routine has worked so why change? We know what's at stake but it's business as usual and that message really came from the leadership group, not necessarily the coaching staff. I think it's a good one. It's consistent with what we do, so don't see a reason to change.

Q. This one is for you, Coach. I saw Andrew Kuzma out there on the ice in a non-contact jersey. How exciting is that to see him out finally back on the ice?

GUY GADOWSKY: It's so nice to have him. What he's been through this entire year is extreme, very unique. I really like how he has handled it and his family has handled it from day one. They've been so positive about things. He's just someone you cheer for by the way that him and his family have dealt with it and to have him on the ice here at the Frozen Four is really cool. Skating around, I had that same observation as well. How cool is it that he's skates here with us now, whereas obviously that was very much in question not long ago. It's awesome to have him here on the ice.

Q. Coach, I guess just flipping my first question on its head, what do you guys have to do specifically to be successful tomorrow about your own game?

GUY GADOWSKY: Well, we have learned a lot about ourselves. We have never questioned that we've had the defensive or offensive game to do it but for us, it's a matter of putting it together and for us to do that, we have to be positive. It's a lesson that the leadership group has taught us throughout the season. It's one that we witnessed in realtime with the women's volleyball team so the lessons that Carson Dyck and the leadership group have been preaching to us during this run and seeing that play out in realtime has been really impactful. That's what it is. We've never questioned our game. It's a matter of putting it together and for us to do that, we have to all do it the same way and be positive with one another.

Q. I'll direct this to Carson but if the other players want to answer too, that would be great. Coach talked about the fact that it's Penn State. There's this athletic tradition here. There's obviously always other sports are getting all that fanfare, but how important was it for you guys or how does it feel to kind of now establish yourselves and really put Penn State hockey on the map. It's very popular on campus but this is a totally different level. Do you sense that? And how much pride do you take in that?

CARSON DYCK: I think we take a ton of pride in that and it's not only us as players who take pride in it, but it's the alumni. That's really what it's all about. You can go back to one of our coaches, Andrew Sturtz and his time here and the guys who built this program. They take so much pride in it. It feels great for us to finally reach that summit, I guess, and they're part of that. They're just as part of it as we are. They built the foundation so that we can be here.

SIMON MACK: I think Carson said it extremely well. The alumni support and the people that have paved the way for us to be here is the reason we're here and for them to be sending us messages... we got a message from all our alumni, video message the other day and just to see the support and to see the faces, like I said, they paved the way. It means so much to us and it gives us that much more motivation to take this thing home.

MODERATOR: Matt, any messages you got that stood out?

MATT DiMARSICO: Yeah, we take pride in it especially being from Pittsburgh. It's been a dream of mine, ever since the program went Division I, to play here. So just to be able to be on the team that got to the Frozen Four, it's definitely really special. Like they said, the alumni play a huge part of that. I know we have six or seven guys on this team from Pens Elite and just to see where the program started to where we're kind of making our mark on it now has been awesome.

Q. Matt, this question's kind of towards the Pittsburgh Penguins. You and Charlie were there this summer working with the Pens development camp. You were there for a week with him. You've played on the same line with him all season long. How do you think that's just grown throughout the entire season?

MATT DiMARSICO: Yeah, I think it clicked right away. Not only him, I think JJ too. I think they're really smart players and once we all found out game and it clicked, it's been great. The second half of the year as we've all become more experienced and playing with each other, I think it's just grown. They're both really smart defensive players too and we're not really giving a whole lot up on defense securing offense.

Q. Matt, you mentioned growing up in the state and playing for Penn State. Before Penn State even showed up, what schools were you looking out and when you found out they were going to have a program, what was the vision in your mind?

MATT DiMARSICO: Yeah, when I was younger it was just a question of what sport I wanted to play. I played a lot of sports growing up but once I focused on hockey, it was always a dream of mine to go to Penn State. I played in the Brick Tournament for team PA and all the practices were at the Pegula and I got to see the facility and what it was all about. From then on, it was a dream to play for Penn State. That's why you see so many kids from the Pens League Program go there as well.

MODERATOR: You didn't get to meet Marvin, by the way. Frozen Four media mascot. Marvin's 27th year here on the end, just in case you're wondering. We missed a year due to COVID, of course. So, '99 Marvin started. You guys weren't even born. You were. If we're done with the players, we'll let the players go. Thanks, guys. Best of luck. We'll finish with questions for Coach Gadowsky.

Q. Guy, I wonder if you've leaned on anyone in terms of how to handle the off-ice things of the last ten days. Because it's different than the normal lead up to a weekend. Anything you've learned, I guess, or who you're reached out to.

GUY GADOWSKY: Rico Blasi gave me a call and I took the opportunity to ask his thoughts on it so it was nice to hear from him. I also talked to a couple other coaches that I know have been here as well, but at the same time, it's sort of our philosophy that it's business as usual and I know that's a little bit harder to execute with the lights on, but I think it's something the team talked about and we understand pretty well. It was a nice call from Rico and I think we got some good information from him.

Q. Guy, of all the four teams that are here at the Frozen Four, I think your program has been the least active in the transfer portal. Can you explain to us what your philosophy is of using the transfer portal to build your program, and how much do you and your staff been paying attention to things going on in there as you prep for the Frozen Four?

GUY GADOWSKY: I think for philosophy goes, I think it's new to say we have a philosophy. It's year-by-year and probably it's different every year. For us right now, there's so much about this team, our program. As the players said to you earlier, it's so much about the other guys, the players previously that really set the foundation. I'm not talking about the D1 players who had a leap of faith to come here when everybody said they'd be killed. It's the players from the ACHA team that were so successful that were part of the influence for Mr. Pegula to give the gift he did. This right now is about all those people, not the people in the portal. So right now we're just focusing on this team right now. The portal, I'm sure we'll address it as a more appropriate time.

Q. That's a pretty perfect segue, Coach, I was going to ask you about the ACHA Foundation. Obviously, one of the most successful programs in the history of the division. You got a taste of it at the very beginnings of the program. Could you speak a little bit more about that in terms of kind of what those guys have meant and that's a huge part of your alumni base too, now.

GUY GADOWSKY: It is and it was actually one of my most fun years because the announcement was very fresh and the guys... it's a very successful program and someone put it, I don't know which reporter said it, but it was almost like a cult following and it was. It was a great following, it just was not widespread and then these guys were awesome. They had such a love of the university. Like, they were there for the university, number one, and that's something that we talked about as staff. We never wanted to lose that and it was such a fun year with excellent players but more excellent Penn Staters and that's something that, man, we want this to be a part so the foundation they set and how they were as Penn Staters is really what drove us forward.

That year was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about why Penn State is such a great university. It was a very educational year for me as well.

MODERATOR: Have you heard from Terry?

GUY GADOWSKY: Oh, yeah.

MODERATOR: Any advice on the game tomorrow?

GUY GADOWSKY: He did not give me advice, but he's always one of this if not the very first person to step up to congratulate us when something goes really well and he's been extremely sportive. Obviously, means the world to us, our program, but he's been extremely supportive as well.

Q. Coach, what have been the last ten days been like for your team? Has it been drinking in the moment a little bit or can you tell they're getting antsy, getting ready to play a little bit?

GUY GADOWSKY: It's been fun. I think any time a program does anything that's the first I think it's special. I think they're very proud of where they came from, as we mentioned starting winless in the first nine Big Ten games so going to the Frozen Four is pretty special. I think they always had Faith in themselves but the fact that they did it makes them feel really good. That said, there's a lot more media. We knew about it, I think our strat comm department has done a really good job to try to get us to take care of as much as we could last week so we did that and focus more on the task at hand this week.

The guys have a great time just competing with each other on the ice, but off the ice as well. There's a lot of competes and ping-pong, darts, you name it. They just love that stuff.

MODERATOR: What kind of secrets did you tell Bucci today?

GUY GADOWSKY: Secrets? There's not many secrets he doesn't know.

Q. You and I are the only two people who are going to get this, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Did you ask any members of the Berger family what you should do in St. Louis?

GUY GADOWSKY: Last night, Chase just got back so he came out and saw us last night. Christian gets back today. Dan, the father of all of them, I think is going to get back. He's trying very hard to get back before the game, but, yeah, it's interesting. There's one other... maybe you'll get this one. Those two you mentioned -- we haven't been around that long. Three of our captains have been from St. Louis, so Chase, Christian, do you know the other one? Did someone get it?

MODERATOR: Anybody else know in the building?

GUY GADOWSKY: For a team that's been around 13 years, we've had three captains right from St. Louis. It's David Goodwin. So Chase and Christian, yeah, this has been a pretty good city for us.

MODERATOR: Way to play to the home crowd. I like that. That's cool. That's a great stat. I hope everybody wrote that down. Do people need him to say the names again or did you get it down? All right. Anything else? We good? Oh. All right. Right here in front.

Q. Coach, what does this say about the Big Ten that you came in as kind of the last team in from the conference and now you're the last team standing? How has this prepared you for this moment?

GUY GADOWSKY: As far as Big Ten goes, any team from the Big Ten could be here easily. You look at what Notre Dame did against Minnesota. Any Big Ten team could be here and playing weekend in and weekend out against the monsters of college hockey is not an easy task. I do like to think we're fairly battle-tested. That's for sure. No one is going to catch us off guard because the hockey we play week in, week out. That being said, again, we're very fortunate to be here. Any Big Ten team could be here for sure.

Q. I think they posted something on your social media account with you passing a player in a hallway, putting your teeth in and saying like weddings, media availability, something like that. Are there any other exceptions to the rule when you put those in and do you remember when you first lost some of those teeth there?

GUY GADOWSKY: Is John here -- yeah. He keeps very close track on when I have to put my tooth in and when I don't. Those are his rules, to be honest with you. He's the writer and director of that thing. I just regurgitate what he makes me say, so that's what it is.

MODERATOR: All right. What's for dinner tonight?

GUY GADOWSKY: Good restaurant. I ordered the salmon. I know that. A lot of other guys are very steak. I don't remember the name of the place but it's supposed to be awesome.

MODERATOR: Good. You probably got to get going to it. We good? All right. Thanks a lot.