After losing its first nine Big Ten games, the Penn State hockey team was "looking up the mountain," coach Guy Gadowsky said. But the Nittany Lions refused to get negative.

Ohio State, Minnesota and No. 2 Michigan State all fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, leaving Penn State (22-13-4) as the final team remaining from the conference in the tournament. After their miserable start in conference play, the Nittany Lions proved it isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish.

That fact was never displayed more prominently than when Cerrato had the instincts to know his teammate was trailing behind him for the game-winning overtime goal in Sunday night’s 2-1 win over UConn to send Penn State to its first Frozen Four in program history.