With their season on the line, the Gophers will play Penn State in the Big Ten tournament semifinals like no one is watching.
Because no one will be.
Penn State announced Wednesday amid the global coronavirus crisis that it will not allow fans, only "essential" personnel, at Saturday's hockey game at Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State is offering refunds.
The NCAA later recommended against all sporting events being open to the public, with president Mike Emmert adding in a statement all upcoming championship events would also be closed to fans.
For the Gophers, playing in an empty arena could be hard, especially since the team has struggled to start games strong this season, including last Friday in a 1-0 loss to Notre Dame.
"The officials at Penn State made a decision in the best interest of their university, and I know the officials at the NCAA, the Big Ten and here at the University of Minnesota are monitoring the situation closely to do what's best for everyone involved," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said in a statement. "Right now, we're not going to let this affect how we prepare for this weekend."
In some ways, this could be an advantage for the Gophers. Last season, the Nittany Lions ranked fourth in total attendance across 23 games. Their average attendance of 5,801 was more than the arena's capacity of 5,782.
The Gophers haven't won in State College, Pa., since February 2017. In 2018, the Gophers lost at Penn State in the final regular-season series and the conference tournament quarterfinals, ending their season. Under Motzko, the Gophers have beaten Penn State only once, 4-1 at home in January 2019. Their best road result was a 3-3 tie turned overtime loss on Feb. 21.
The Gophers also have recent experience playing in front of sparse crowds. Their conference quarterfinal games this past weekend drew announced crowds of about 2,000 to the 10,000-seat 3M Arena at Mariucci. But they won two of the three games.
"Those are games where you've got to manufacture your own energy," goaltender Jack LaFontaine said after Friday's loss. "… If there's five or 5,000 fans, it shouldn't matter to our energy level."
Megan Ryan
