Three Stars: September 23-29

3. Women's Hockey Media Day Wrap-Up
(GoPSUSports.com)

The NCAA women's team held their media day last Thursday. Unfortunately, it was pretty lightly covered, so I didn't have the material for a roundup/link dump post.

Not that it really needs one when GoPSUSports recorded the entire thing on video and even threw in a transcript of Josh Brandwene's press conference. As someone who tries to peel back the layers of interpretation that are inevitable in journalism and give you as much raw material as possible, I approve.

2. A Salute to 32 years at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion
(StateCollege.com)

As mentioned in last week's Three Stars, Joe and Heidi Battista took the final skate at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion a little over a week ago (the facility's fate is still a bit unsettled, although it won't be an ice rink any longer).

Naturally, that meant a "Joe Battista tells stories" column for his subsequent entry on StateCollege.com. Gather 'round, children.

1. Katie Vaughan looking to backstop the Penn State women's ice hockey club to a national championship
(PennLive)

I'm sure some of you are crying bias because I gave first star to the Women's Ice Hockey Club (assuming anyone actually cares where I place the links in these posts). Of course I'm biased. We all are, it's part of the human condition. At least I'm up front with you guys about mine.

Regardless, WIHC goalie Katie Vaughan is one of the finest student-athletes Penn State has to offer and she laid down a fantastic interview here. Hopefully, we're all biased in favor of that.

Best of the Rest

@PegulaIceArena
(Twitter)

Penn State held an open house at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday which, as it turned out, doubled as a reunion of NHL alumni. Above, obviously, is Mario Lemieux, pictured with Heidi Battista.

Former Red Wing/Whaler/Hurricane/Flyer Keith Primeau was also there, and while he might not be in the "greatest ever" discussion, he did once do this.

Szyszko Retains Captaincy, Rothman and Schaffer Named 2013-14 Alternates
(psuwihc.com)

UPark's ACHA teams named their 2013-2014 letter-wearers last week. As should be fairly obvious from the header, Carly Szyszko will once again wear the C for the women, while Allie Rothman and Ashton Schaffer take the As.

The Ice Lions also have some highly-worthy leadership: Max O'Malley is the captain, with Creek Lewis and Ryan Urban serving as alternates.

Ice Chips Blog - Season previews for 2013-14
(achahockey.org)

Both of those teams were picked to return to nationals this season on the ACHA website.

Ohio State hockey: B1G dreams beckon
(Land-Grant Holy Grant)

Here's a well-done preview of the Ohio State men's team from OSU's SB Nation blog...

...I'm a little worried though. To this point, the people who support and write about Buckeye hockey appear to be very nice, reasonable and articulate. In other words, the polar opposite of their neanderthal football brethren. So basically, what are they up to?

Tougher schedule would help MU women's hockey
(GoErie.com)

Over in Erie, people are fretting because they don't view Mercyhurst's schedule as tough enough to prepare the Lakers for their annual NCAA Tournament trip.

But after [the Minnesota State, Ohio State, Cornell, Clarkson, Robert Morris and St. Lawrence] games, which teams on the 33-game schedule will give the Lakers the battles they need to prepare for the postseason?

Syracuse? The Orange are winless in 23 career meetings with the Lakers. The rest of the CHA? Lindenwood, Penn State and Rochester Institute of Technology finished last season with a combined 30-68-10 record. Lindenwood begins only its third year in NCAA Division I. Penn State and RIT joined D-I last year.

I guess I should probably be mildly offended, but I'm not. We're a second-year NCAA program. We'll get there.

RMU women’s hockey team seeks to climb conference
(City of Champions)

A nice preview of the perenially-tough RMU Colonials who, with all due respect to a growing Syracuse program, have emerged as Mercyhurst's primary College Hockey America threat most of the time.

Women's hockey drops 2013-14 regular season opener to No. 3 Clarkson
(RITathletics.com)

Five regular season games have already been played by CHA teams. Lindenwood lost to and tied with Bemidji State over the weekend, while Mercyhurst split that aforementioned Minnesota State series. Then there's this one, a 12-1 win by third-ranked Clarkson over RIT. Yikes.

New Community/UNO Athletic Facility
(YouTube)

The first time one of my favorite teams won a championship, I really enjoyed the offseason. Got the t-shirt, got the hat, went to the parade, basked in the glow. It was glorious. Then, just before the next season started, I realized something obvious but generally forgotten in brief moments of euphoria: they don't cancel the league so that my team can be the champs forever. You still have to go out and defend the title, and you probably won't do it successfully.

That's sort of how I feel about Pegula Ice Arena right now. Other schools aren't going to stop building new arenas just because we have one. And much like PSU people feel PIA is better than new facilities at Notre Dame, Miami and Minnesota-Duluth, others will feel that their place beats ours.

One of the early challengers will likely come from UNO, and while it looks fantastic, it's going to double as a basketball arena. So I think we'll be okay up against that one.

Penn State All-Sports Museum
(Facebook)

Hockey exhibit at the all-sports museum? Hockey exhibit at the all-sports museum.

You know, it's interesting... the more I learn - the outstanding collection of memorabilia shown above being the latest bit of knowledge - the more I'm convinced that my issues with the handling of Icers and Lady Icers history are not due to an institutional flaw, but instead are a result of stubborn and/or lazy individual(s).

Basically, I'm not sure what exactly USA Hockey teaches in the course of its prestigious Brian Fishman Internship, but I'm not impressed.

Three Days in the ACHA

Kevin Backoefer and Behrend split their opening weekend by taking down Fredonia in OT at home

On Friday, I wrote about the flood of Penn State ACHA games over the weekend that signaled the beginning of the hockey season. So... how did that all turn out? Glad you asked.

As I'm sure you know by now, I attended four of the twelve contests below in person (the ones without words underneath the final score) so feel free to click through for separate posts on those.

Friday, September 27

Men's D3: Penn State Behrend 2 at RIT 8

A quick glance at that score says that the Tigers thrashed Behrend, although the game didn't reach blowout status until a wild third period that saw seven combined goals (it was 3-0 RIT after 40 minutes). Kevin Backoefer and Nathan Ropelewski scored for the Lions.

Men's D2: Penn State 6 at IUP (D1) 1

In the front end of a home-and-home series with the Crimson Hawks, the Ice Lions steadily grew their lead throughout the contest to win rather comfortably. Creek Lewis got his season off to a great start with a hat trick - all goals coming on the power play - and Peter Daley, Voight Demeester and Fredrik Linge matched him with three more.

Men's D1: Slippery Rock 1 at Penn State Berks 4

Berks is the one PSU team in this post that had games under its belt prior to this past weekend, as they split with that same IUP team that played the Ice Lions on September 20th and 21st. A strong second period against SRU helped the Blue Lions climb to 2-1-0 on the year.

Men's D3: Rutgers-Camden 2 at Penn State Brandywine 8

The perennially-strong team at Brandywine got off to a good start by dismantling Rutgers-Camden in a DVCHC contest at West Chester's mammoth Ice Line.

Women's D2: Liberty 0 at Penn State 6

Saturday, September 28

Men's D3: IUP (D2) 4 at Penn State Altoona 5 (Photos)

Men's D1: Slippery Rock 4 at Penn State Berks 3 (OT)

The Rock, much as IUP ultimately did, rallied for a split against Berks, thanks to J.T. Grahl finishing a hat trick in the extra period. The result was at least mildly controversial, as the Blue Lions had two goals disallowed in regulation.

Men's D3: Penn State Brandywine 3 at Shippensburg 2

At the venerable Hersheypark Arena and in another DVCHC league game, Brandywine overcame two Austin Rinck goals to take a tight game that was tied after both the first (0-0) and second (1-1) periods. Brandon Benn scored twice for PSUB, Billy Gregg had the third, and goalie Andrew Hieber stopped 46 of 48 shots.

Women's D2: Liberty 0 at Penn State 7 (at Altoona, PA)

Men's D3: Fredonia 3 at Penn State Behrend 4 (OT)

Behrend bounced back with a rousing overtime win in its home opener against College Hockey East foe Fredonia. Ropelewski was the hero - although without Hunter Cunningham's two goals and an assist, he never gets a chance at the winner.

Men's D2: IUP (D1) 2 at Penn State 8 (Photos)

Sunday, September 29

Men's D1: West Chester 5 at Penn State Berks 3

Uniquely among teams featured in this post, Berks had the always-tough task of a three game weekend. They may have paid for it against West Chester as PSUB jumped out to a 3-1 second-period lead thanks to goals from Thomas DeMusis, Theodore Marquardt and Josh Flamini (shorthanded). However the Golden Rams responded decisively with four unanswered, including three in the third period.

Nine up, three down. Not a bad weekend, Penn State hockey.

Men's Jersey Countdown: #11 David Glen

Sophomore - Forward - 6'0" - 180 pounds - Fort Saskatchewan, AB

College hockey's publicly-available game information hasn't really evolved to the point where fans, media and bloggers can track the increasingly popular advanced statistics like Corsi and Fenwick. But it's a pretty safe bet that David Glen would fare quite well in those measurements. He's a possession-driving player who, as a freshman, led Penn State in shots with 117, won 58.4 percent of his draws, gained the puck when he didn't have it, kept it when he did, and probably had a healthy proportion of defensive zone starts to boot. All of that was expected from the former Spruce Grove Saints captain when he came to Hockey Valley. What wasn't expected: he became arguably PSU's first varsity-era star player, beginning with his overtime goal on October 13, 2012 to give the Nittany Lions a first NCAA win, over AIC. That was Glen's second of the game, and he went on to score 14 more times to lead the team - including in big wins over Air Force and Vermont. Glen will become an alternate captain this season (replacing the departed George Saad) and he may be the leading candidate to wear the C after Tommy Olczyk graduates.

Career Statistics:
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2012-13	27	16	9	25	57	2	0	2	0
NCAA Career	27	16	9	25	57	2	0	2	0

Women's Jersey Countdown: #4 Jordin Pardoski

Sophomore - Defender - 5'5" - Rochester Hills, MI

Fiery Jordin Pardoski, noted for her pre-game "pep talks" that often resonate from the locker room to the stands, would be an important member of the team based on intangibles alone. However, as it turns out, she's also one of the Nittany Lions' best defensive players, and there is no shortage of statistics to back up that statement: her 10 points last year led Penn State blueliners and she had a -2 rating, best at the position among players who dressed more than half of the time. Pardoski also led the team with 40 penalty minutes, largely a product of her physicality, but that number is more than balanced by the number of puck battles she's won behind her net. She plays with the headiness of a coach's daughter, which makes sense as her father (himself a former player at Michigan and a one-time New Jersey Devils draft pick) coaches the 19U team in the famed Honeybaked program. Pardoski also has a heavy shot from the point - only a handful of Penn State's best offensive players topped her 10.0 shooting percentage in 2012-13.

Career Statistics:
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2012-13	35	3	7	10	40	1	0	0	0
NCAA Career	35	3	7	10	40	1	0	0	0

ACHA D2: Penn State 8 vs. IUP (D1) 2

Let it be said, first of all, that IUP is not a horrible team. Playing out of ACHA Division 1 and College Hockey Mid-America, the Crimson Hawks were squarely in the middle of the conference pack with an 8-7-1 league record a year ago. And while CHMA is a one-bidder in terms of D1 nationals, IUP played three tight games against the team that took that bid (John Carroll). They initiated 2013-2014 with a split against Penn State Berks.

Yet the Ice Lions made the Hawks look pretty horrible.

Following up on Penn State's season-opening 6-1 win in Indiana on Friday, Danny Matrosic and Creek Lewis scored twice, while Ryan Urban and Tim Acker added a goal and two assists as PSU thrashed IUP for a second time, 8-2 Saturday night, in the first intercollegiate men's hockey game at Pegula Ice Arena.

It wasn't a contest for the faint of heart, as it had that typical second-game-of-the-series crankiness which manifested itself in bone-jarring hits for the first 15 minutes. But what followed was something a bit more sinister in a 49-minute-long second period that contained enough penalties to strain the inventory of available slots on the gamesheet, including a major and a game disqualification to PSU defenseman Chris Dinsmore for a headshot.

That's the bad news. The good news is that Penn State dominated the extended special teams drill. Urban got things going with 1:26 left in the first period by scoring on the advantage while parked just to the left of the net, and thanks to Dinsmore and Acker working it down low to him. Austin Wagoner - the older brother of Women's Ice Hockey Club freshman Geneva - then made it 2-0 just before the period expired when he split the Hawks defensemen and outworked both to the bouncing puck that he deposited.

The aforementioned swamp of a second period also came with benefits. After IUP's Sean Beichner dumped Lewis, but charged him to do so, Dinsmore took Taylor Vincent's pass and stepped into the high slot to fire home another power play goal with 11:10 left. Lewis - who isn't the type of guy that likes being knocked over, even illegally - got revenge for that transgression beginning less than a minute later with PSU's third PPG to make it 4-0. The payback continued with another Lewis goal after that, this time at even strength.

It's important to point out that despite the lopsided score, the plague of penalties affected both sides, making the Ice Lions' penalty killers some of the unsung heroes of the game. Guys like Urban - the epitome of a skill player who also takes care of the little things - Peter Daley, Abe Edson, Rob Fauth, and of course freshman goalie Matthew Erlichman were all essential to PSU's expansion of its lead as things progressed. The PK was finally dented on a pair of 5-on-3 goals by Anthony Venezia late in the second period and Reid Duguid early in the third (with the latter requiring a pretty spectacular effort and shot after barreling in off left wing), but the exchange of time off the ice could have easily turned out much worse for Penn State than it did.

Matrosic and Acker ensured that IUP got no closer than five, as their three goals - as well as noisy singing and chanting from the students in a packed house - closed out the last 22:56 of the game.

Up next for the 2-0-0 Ice Lions: a pair of Mid-Atlantic College Hockey home games against St. Joseph's and Temple on October 4th and 5th respectively. Both games start at 10:15 p.m. in the Pegula Ice Arena Community Rink.

Penn State-IUP Photo Gallery

All photos by and courtesy of Steve Hass. Click on any one for an enlarged gallery view.


Senior forward Austin Wagoner

Junior forward Austin Meehan

Freshman forward Abe Edson

Creek Lewis (7) and Ryan Urban (26) celebrate Urban's first-period goal

Wagoner, splitting the D on his first-period goal

Junior forward Franky Reluzco

Junior forward Tim Acker

Urban

Junior forward Fredrik Linge

Sophomore defenseman Tyler Person

Senior defenseman Chris Dinsmore

Sophomore forward Taylor Vincent

Head coach Ryan Behnken

An active group of students sang and chanted throughout the contest

Junior forward Neil Laessig

Freshman forward Daniel Matrosic

Freshman goaltender Matthew Erlichman

Wagoner

Freshman defenseman Voight Demeester

Penn State Altoona-IUP Photo Gallery

Special thanks to both Kirk Zembower for taking the bottom three photos and Amy Lantz for her assistance in tracking them down.

As always, click any photo for the enlarged gallery view.

Altoona is a two-time division champion in College Hockey East

The game's opening faceoff

Captain Jeff Nelson, following his first-period goal

Richie Hall scores the winner...

...and receives some love from his linemates

ACHA D3: Penn State Altoona 5 vs. IUP (D2) 4

In Penn State Altoona's season opener Saturday afternoon at Galactic Ice, there were definitive traces of both the familiar and the unfamiliar in the team's 5-4 win over Indiana (PA)'s ACHA Division 2 squad.

The familiar: A wild brand of hockey that has come to characterize the aptly-nicknamed Toontown, where video game-like 8-7 scores aren't uncommon and no lead is safe.

The unfamiliar, a bit more subtle but still there: Head coach Tom Lantz likes his team's speed and depth more than in previous years, and for good reason. The first period was a clinic in vertical hockey, with Altoona pushing the pace and creating chances in transition. The Crimson Hawks occasionally found openings as well, although generally only when PSUA would take itself out of position dogging the puck on the forecheck.

With strength and conditioning coach Derrick Williams - the Penn State football legend - admiring his handiwork and a tightly-packed crowd joining him, Altoona broke the scoreless deadlock halfway though the first when Jeff Nelson charged the middle and deposited a pretty behind-the-back feed from David Bramley. IUP seemed to grow into the game in the aftermath of the goal, but the Lions caught a break five minutes later when Hawks goalie Dante Koeppen was forced to cover up what would have been an icing call had it not been on net. Right off of the ensuing faceoff, won by Bramley, defenseman Jack Lawn punished one to the back of the net for a 2-0 lead that held into intermission.

It's often said that hockey isn't a 60-minute game, it's three 20-minute games. Exhibit A in that argument could be Saturday's match, as after a first 20 minutes of Altoona playing how it wanted, the Crimson Hawks' style and tempo won out over the next 20 resulting in a tie after two "games."

A big reason for that was IUP right wing Bo Ruef. With Altoona still on top by a 4-2 count into the last six minutes of the middle frame, Ruef scored a spectacular goal, splitting the D on the rush, then pushing the puck through Lions goalie Zach Sheriko while being knocked over and after his initial effort was denied. Ruef remained dangerous, forcing Sheriko to make a outstanding save on Bobby Campbell after he started a 2-on-1, then assisting Richard Motto on the game-tying goal immediately after that with 2:35 left.

The Altoona bench intently watches the waning moments of the game

Prior to Ruef's burst, PSUA still seemed in control of the game, even if a bit shaky at times. Some penalty trouble followed, allowing Eric Mueller a power play slot deflection goal to make the score 2-1 with Conlan Sodrosky in the box, and Motto later shaved the lead to one on a net-front scramble with 12:08 remaining. Each time, however, Altoona had an answer - first from Brian Kruser, who answered Mueller on a Luk Devorski-generated rebound, then from Ben Kinch after Nick DeLaurentis circled high on the power play and found the left wing all alone in the slot.

After the free-wheeling first period and the mistake-laden second, the third took on its own form: that of a chess match. Both teams stiffened up defensively, the game slowed down and, although the occasional chance still presented itself, both Sheriko and Koeppen were dialed in.

The game-winning goal from the unsung player is probably a cliche in hockey, but one that proves true time and again. So while conventional wisdom dictated that a tiebreaker come from the Kinch-Bramley-Nelson line, which was dominant all game long, it didn't. Instead, it was Richie Hill, a sophomore who didn't record a single point as a freshman, powering a shot through from the left wing circle after two previous attempts were stopped by Koeppen. From there, it wasn't always smooth sailing - PSUA had to kill a cross checking call to Lawn just 41 seconds after the goal - but the Lions closed strong, keeping Koeppen under intense pressure late, to the point where IUP was never able to get an extra attacker out.

Men's Jersey Countdown: #12 Dylan Richard

Freshman - Forward - 6'0" - 185 pounds - Sherwood Park, AB

He's not the most heralded of Penn State's freshmen - even from within his own junior team - but don't be surprised if Spruce Grove Saints veteran Dylan Richard (last name pronounced like Maurice and Henri) becomes one of the Nittany Lions' go-to offensive threats in 2013-14. In the AJHL, he averaged 0.80 points per game over 138 games, just a hair behind once-and-again teammate David Glen, PSU's leading goal scorer last year, and his 0.82. In Richard's first full season as a Saint he and Glen won an AJHL championship, and over the following two seasons he emerged as one the circuit's elite players. The honors quickly followed. Richard was selected to the AJHL North Division All-League team last season and was a finalist for the Alberta Old Time Hockey Players Trophy, awarded to the the league MVP. He also joined Team Canada West at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, but had to settle for silver after dropping the final to Eamon McAdam and Team USA.

Career Statistics (with AJHL Spruce Grove Saints):
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2009-10	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2010-11	43	9	17	26	8	1	0	1	0
2011-12	51	19	22	41	24	8	2	1	0
2012-13	42	22	20	42	39	8	0	3	0
AJHL Career	138	50	60	110	71	17	2	5	0

Women's Jersey Countdown: #5 Stephanie Walkom

Sophomore - Defender - 5'7" - Moon Township, PA

Stephanie Walkom, voted as the Nittany Lions' most improved player in 2012-13, may stand as the best example of the team's subtle growth from the beginning to the end of the year. She didn't play a single minute during the 2012 half of the schedule, then finally got a chance against NCAA Division III Chatham on January 5th - and fired three shots on goal with a +2 rating. The daughter of NHL referee Stephen Walkom proceeded to play in each of Penn State's final seven games, starting with a 3-3 tie against Lindenwood on February 9th (a game that, if you're not familiar with how it ended, should have been PSU's second conference win). She formed a solid partnership with Lindsay Reihl that contributed to a noticeable uptick in the team's defense, as the Lions allowed 3.14 goals per game during that final stretch of CHA matches after allowing 4.20 in league contests prior to that. Walkom's single best outing may have come on February 22nd at Robert Morris, when she notched four of PSU's 14 blocked shots.

Career Statistics:
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2012-13	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
NCAA Career	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0

ACHA WD2: Penn State 7 vs. Liberty 0

Head coach Pat Fung and the team observe the early stages of the third period

Following Friday night's dominating 6-0 win over Liberty to open the 2013-14 season, some people may have thought that there was no way a team could issue a more coldly-efficient beating.

Those people, should they exist, were wrong.

Jackie Saideh - while playing forward - and Devon Fisk each recorded hat tricks, and Anna Marcus scored her first Penn State goal as the Women's Ice Hockey Club rolled Liberty 7-0 Saturday evening in Altoona. PSU is now 2-0 on the young season despite the absences of key regulars Allie Rothman and Elizabeth Denis.

Measuring the WIHC's performance may best be done through the shot count: 82-3, a margin that topped even Friday night's 72-4.

Still goals, not just shots, are needed to win games. Fortunately, Penn State got plenty of those too.

Saideh got things going 2:54 into the game by pouncing on a muffed clearing attempt after linemate Lucy Yeatman worked the puck to the front. Her second goal, the 3-0 tally, came from a nice Tara Soukup pinch at the left point that kept the play alive. Yeatman then wound up with the puck on the opposite side and found Saideh in the middle, where a second attempt found twine.

Fisk traded goals with the Massachusetts native in that first period, collecting the game's second score 4:32 in. Mary Kate Tonetti won a battle on the left-wing wall and left it for Fisk, who did the rest by dangling to the front, including around both Flames defenders, and burying. She then made the score 4-0 into the first intermission after Carly Szyszko threw a quick backhanded pass into the slot where both she and Geneva Wagoner were waiting, with the former eventually doing the honors after an earned 50-50 puck.

The only goal of the second period came off the stick of Marcus. She took a feed from Saideh in the neutral zone and swooped in on Liberty goalie Leanne Niemi, faking a shot before shifting to the backhand and sliding it home.

Fisk and Saideh both polished off the win by completing their three-goal outings in the final period. Saideh went first, cashing in yet another loose puck after Kim Badorrek's shot was knocked down in front. Fisk's effort was similar, as she finished a partially deflected Wagoner shot.

Sarah Eisenhut played the entire game in goal and earned her first shutout of the season.

PSU will be off next week before heading to the Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon, PA on October 11th and 12th to take on 2013 ACHA National Tournament participant California in the first College Hockey East games of the season.

Box Score

---

First Period
Scoring
1. Penn State, Jackie Saideh (unassisted), 2:54; 2. Penn State, Devon Fisk (Mary Kate Tonetti), 4:32; 3. Penn State, Jackie Saideh (Lucy Yeatman), 11:17; 4. Penn State, Devon Fisk (Geneva Wagoner, Carly Szyszko), 12:32.
Penalties
None.
Second Period
Scoring
5. Penn State, Anna Marcus (Jackie Saideh), 8:33.
Penalties
None.
Third Period
Scoring
6. Penn State, Jackie Saideh (Anna Marcus), 5:28; 7. Penn State, Devon Fisk (Geneva Wagoner), 10:17.
Penalties
None.
Goaltending
Penn State: Sarah Eisenhut: W, 3 saves/3 shots. Liberty: Leanne Niemi: L, 75 saves/82 shots.

ACHA WD2: Penn State 6 vs. Liberty 0

Geneva Wagoner scored twice in her first game at Penn State

The first college hockey game in the history of Pegula Ice Arena wasn't much of one.

Freshman Geneva Wagoner scored twice, sophomore Devon Fisk added a goal and an assist and senior captain Carly Szyszko set up three goals as Penn State steamrolled Liberty 6-0 in the regular season opener for both teams.

It didn't take those three, PSU's starting line Friday night, very long to get going. Just 29 seconds of game time after Associate Athletic Director Joe Battista's ceremonial puck drop to mark the historic contest, Szyszko motored down left wing and found Wagoner in front, where the Alexandria Bay, NY native was able to chip past Flames goaltender Leanne Niemi.

Fisk did the honors just over two and a half minutes later after a Kim Badorrek shot was knocked down in front. Liberty's Kaitlyn Scales attempted to knock the rebound to safety, but a Fisk stick lift and a couple of hacks later, it was 2-0 Penn State. Allie Rothman's bomb from left point after intercepting a clearing attempt made it 3-0 into the first intermission.

Unfortunately for the Flames, the WIHC wasn't ready to take the foot off the gas just yet. At the 4:17 mark of the second period, Tara Soukup gained the puck near center and took it herself by parting the LU defense before shelving it. Midway through the period, Szyszko found Badorrek all alone up top and the Altoona native became the third blueliner to score in the game. Wagoner's second goal from just outside the blue paint - set up by Szyszko's third assist, a quick backhanded feed - capped the scoring.

Niemi was under siege for the entire game, facing a whopping 72 shots in all, compared to just four the other way as Katie Vaughan and Sarah Eisenhut combined for a shutout.

Penn State and Liberty will meet for the second half of the series on Saturday afternoon at 6:30 p.m. in Altoona's Galactic Ice Rink.

Highlights

---

Box Score

---

First Period
Scoring
1. Penn State, Geneva Wagoner (Carly Szyszko), 0:31; 2. Penn State, Devon Fisk (unassisted), 3:11; 3. Penn State, Allie Rothman (unassisted), 7:55.
Penalties
1. Penn State, Tara Soukup (2:00 body checking), 3:33.
Second Period
Scoring
4. Penn State, Tara Soukup (unassisted), 4:17; 5. Penn State, Kim Badorrek (Carly Szyszko), 8:40; 6. Penn State, Geneva Wagoner (Carly Szyszko, Devon Fisk), 12:49.
Penalties
2. Penn State, Mary Kate Tonetti (2:00 roughing), 0:31.
Third Period
Scoring
None.
Penalties
None.
Goaltending
Penn State: Katie Vaughan: W, 3 saves/3 shots; Sarah Eisenhut (0:00 3rd): 1 save/1 shot. Liberty: Leanne Niemi: L, 66 saves/72 shots.

Men's Jersey Countdown: #13 Kenny Brooks

Sophomore - Forward - 6'1" - 195 pounds - Las Vegas, NV

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kenny Brooks is that he doesn't have to play the way he does. His father, Kirk, owns the USHL's Tri-City Storm and is in the habit of buying other hockey entities related to his son's career. Money talks, and as long as Kenny turned out to be a half-decent player, he was always going to have a roster spot somewhere. But Brooks, to his credit, is all team. The right wing once played an extended stretch on defense for Tri-City when the Storm was shorthanded on the blueline, and he also made a cameo there under similar circumstances in 2012-13 for the Nittany Lions. He's one of Penn State's hardest workers and best playmakers, and can most often be seen on the backcheck or working the corners to set up someone like David Glen. Brooks assisted Glen on the overtime goal that game PSU its first NCAA-era win on October 13, 2012, and he put up a goal and two assists in the sweep of Alabama-Huntsville on February 8th and 9th.

Career Statistics:
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2012-13	25	2	10	12	23	0	0	1	0
NCAA Career	25	2	10	12	23	0	0	1	0

Women's Jersey Countdown: #6 Lindsay Reihl

Graduate Student - Defender - 5'4" - Cheshire, CT

Lindsay Reihl is truly a remarkable player. The fact that she came to Penn State before the Pegula donation announcement and made the jump to the NCAA team is significant enough by itself to make that statement, of course. But it's more than that, because she's far from a mere hanger-on, she's a great defender, and an every-game player who wears an A on her sweater. The coup de grace is the fact that Reihl made herself valuable enough in 2012-13 to be asked back this season as a graduate student. That sets her apart as the only former ACHAer, male or female, with whom PSU's coaches were willing to take advantage of the NCAA's five-in-four rule, which (in this application) allows former members of the ACHA teams to play five total years of college hockey. With the Lady Icers, Reihl was the club's three-time defensive player of the year. She was also, in 2011, a member of the first women's team USA Hockey sent to the World University Games, helping the squad to a fourth-place finish. Just in case you needed more, and as her pursuit of a graduate degree suggests, Reihl is also an outstanding student - she was named a 2012-13 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar for carrying a GPA above 3.7.

Career Statistics (2009-12 with ACHA Lady Icers):
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2009-10	23	2	4	6	14	1	0	0	-
2010-11	21	0	4	4	37	0	0	0	-
2011-12	28	2	7	9	32	0	0	0	-
2012-13	35	0	1	1	14	0	0	0	0
ACHA Career	72	4	15	19	83	1	0	0	-
NCAA Career	35	0	1	1	14	0	0	0	0

PSU Announces Men's Single-Game Sales

On Friday afternoon, Penn State announced its highly-anticipated offering of single-game tickets for 2013-2014 men's games at Pegula Ice Arena.

Some quick highlights:

• The on-sale date is Thursday, October 3rd
• Tickets can be purchased at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office (open weekdays 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) or by calling 1-800-NITTANY
• Prices range from $15 to $23 per seat, while standing room is $10 per person and student tickets for the six games not included in the student ticket package are $10 as well
• Roughly 200 seats and 200 standing room admissions are available for most games, with 1,200 seats available for the six games not included in the student ticket package
• The opening-night game against Army is an exception to the previous bullet, as it is completely sold out other than a very limited number of scattered single tickets held back for season ticket sales

Here's the full release:

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Single-game tickets for the Penn State men's hockey team's inaugural season in Pegula Ice Arena and the Big Ten will go on sale Thursday, Oct. 3.

Fans interested in purchasing tickets can visit the Bryce Jordan Center Athletic Ticket Office, which is open weekdays from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., or by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Single-game tickets in the main bowl start at just $15 per game, with the most expensive ticket priced at $23. Standing-room only tickets cost $10 each.

For most Penn State games, 200 single-game tickets in the main bowl will be available, in addition to the standing-room option. Approximately 1,200 general public tickets will be available for the six games that were not included in student season tickets (Nov. 30, Dec. 1, March 7-8, March 14-15).

The Nittany Lions' highly-anticipated opener against Army Friday, Oct. 11 is sold out, with no bowl seats or standing-room tickets available. Fans interested in attending the first game held at Pegula Ice Arena can purchase one of a limited quantity of single seats that are available for the season.

In addition, student single-game tickets for the aforementioned games not included in the season ticket package cost $10 each.

In 2013-14, head coach Guy Gadowsky welcomes back 18 returning letterwinners, as well as nine newcomers, as the Nittany Lions join the Big Ten for the league's first season. Penn State, which returns its top 13 point producers and nearly 94 percent of the team's scoring, also boast four NHL draft picks on the roster, including juniors Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) and Patrick Koudys (Smithville, Ont.) and freshmen Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.) and Mike Williamson (Leduc, Alta.).

Jumping In With Both Feet

After the ACHA Division 1 team at Penn State Berks gave us a taste of real-life hockey action last weekend - a road split at Indiana (PA) - Penn State hockey largely hits its 2013-2014 stride beginning today. While neither NCAA team opens up until the women head to Vermont in a week, take a look at the schedule of games for all of the ACHA squads over the next three days:

Friday, September 27
Men's D3: Penn State Behrend at RIT, 7:30 p.m.
Men's D2: Penn State at IUP (D1), 7:35 p.m.
Men's D1: Slippery Rock at Penn State Berks, 7:45 p.m.
Men's D3: Rutgers-Camden at Penn State Brandywine, 9:15 p.m.
Women's D2: Liberty at Penn State, 10:15 p.m.

Saturday, September 28
Men's D3: IUP (D2) at Penn State Altoona, 3:50 p.m.
Men's D1: Slippery Rock at Penn State Berks, 4:00 p.m.
Men's D3: Penn State Brandywine at Shippensburg, 6:00 p.m.
Women's D2: Liberty at Penn State, 6:30 p.m. (at Altoona, PA)
Men's D3: Fredonia at Penn State Behrend, 7:30 p.m.
Men's D2: IUP (D1) at Penn State, 10:15 p.m.

Sunday, September 29
Men's D1: West Chester at Penn State Berks, 4:30 p.m.

Not bad, eh?

I encourage anyone able and looking for an activity this weekend to get out and support at least one of those teams. The WD2 Women's Ice Hockey Club and the D2 Ice Lions play at the Pegula Ice Arena Community Rink, of course. The WIHC's game Saturday is at Galactic Ice Rink in Altoona, which also happens to be home ice for Penn State Altoona. The Ice Lions' game at IUP tonight will take place in Indiana's S&T Bank Arena. Penn State Berks is based in the Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex in Wyomissing, while Penn State Behrend calls the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie home. If you're in the Harrisburg-Hershey area, Shippensburg will host Penn State Brandywine at the historic Hersheypark Arena, while Brandywine's home game will be at Ice Line in West Chester.

For my part, I'm going to try something possibly crazy, but definitely unprecedented in a couple different ways.

A quartet of those games listed above are in the cards for TYT, which will tie the blog's weekend record for attendance at Penn State games originally set January 11th through 13th. The first game will be the Women's Ice Hockey Club's season opener against Liberty tonight, the first intercollegiate hockey game of any kind played in Pegula Ice Arena.

On Saturday, a never-before-attempted tripleheader is in order, beginning with a tough season opener for Altoona against IUP's Division 2 team. Immediately after that, the WIHC will play a rematch with Liberty on the same sheet of ice. The conclusion of that game should come quickly enough to grab a soft pretzel and a coffee for dinner and head back up I-99 to see the Ice Lions play their home opener, the first men's intercollegiate game in Pegula Ice Arena, against IUP's Division 1 team. Sometime in there, I hope to write posts about all of those games (this is all pretty meaningless to you without that, after all).

Should I survive, it will be a story for the grandkids. I've certainly watched and even attended three (or more) hockey games in a day before - any ACHA National Tournament is an obvious example - but never with the level of engagement that will be required tomorrow.

Here's a brief look at each of the games on the docket.

The WIHC has the highest of aspirations for the coming season

Women's D2: Penn State vs. Liberty

On paper, to put it bluntly, the Women's Ice Hockey Club should roll. Penn State is loaded up this year as seniors Carly Szyszko, Katie Vaughan and Allie Rothman are back for one more shot at a national championship after falling just short in last year's title game and in two previous seasons as ACHA D1 Lady Icers.

Although Mandy Mortach, the team's hard-nosed second-leading scorer in 2012-2013, will not return, nearly everyone else does. The list includes Smash Sisters Tara Soukup and Ashton Schaffer on defense, dynamic forward Devon Fisk and other key players like Mary Kate Tonetti, Elizabeth Denis, Nina Elia, Taylor Nyman, Jackie Saideh and Sarah Eisenhut, one of the best goalies in the nation, but with the misfortune of being stuck behind the highly-acclaimed Vaughan. A sound group of six new players will give PSU incredible depth as well, bolstering their status as a title favorite.

Liberty is on the other end of the spectrum. The Flames were 0-12-0 last season and scored just seven goals in those contests, and a pair of exhibition shutout losses to the Carolina Lightning U16AA squad two weeks ago gave little hope for improvement. Second-year head coach Sara Niemi will look to her goaltender, younger sister Leanne Niemi, to keep Liberty in range.

Altoona coach Tom Lantz hopes his team will have a late-game edge

Men's D3: Penn State Altoona vs. IUP (D2)

Altoona, as with all two-year commonwealth campus teams, is a unique coaching challenge because every player is either a freshman or (figuratively speaking) a senior. Tom Lantz doesn't have the luxury of multi-year rebuilds, and only sees limited gains from individual players along their respective development curves before needing to bring in an entirely new team.

The good news in that department, as Toontown attempts to bounce back from a disappointing 2012-2013, is that one of this year's "seniors" is explosive forward Conlan Sodrosky, and another is stalwart defenseman Brian Kruser, both of whom were recently named alternate captains. Although he slumped a bit late in his freshman season, Sodrosky showed that he produces points in bunches, as his 19 in 16 games included outings of five, three and three. The team made headlines in the offseason by acquiring the services of Penn State football legend Derrick Williams as a strength and conditioning coach, and it's hard to believe that Altoona's training with a former NFL player won't pay dividends in those tight third periods.

Indiana's D2 club will present an obvious challenge as a team in a higher division. Last year, the Crimson Hawks split a pair of games against members of Altoona's conference, College Hockey East, beating Saint Vincent College 4-1 and losing to Pitt-Johnstown by the same score. Ryan Dougherty, who scored 12 times in 14 games a year ago, will lead the IUP offense.

The Ice Lions are counting on Creek Lewis to score - often - from near the blue paint

Men's D2: Penn State vs. IUP (D1)

Second-time first-year Ice Lions head coach Ryan Behnken, although also playing an Indiana team one step up in division, has a set of problems a little bit different from Lantz. After a couple seasons of reaping residual benefits of the Icers' transition to NCAA status in the form of players like Mike Broccolo, Joe Zitarelli and Mac Winchester, those guys have now graduated. Second-team All-American defenseman Brandon Russo, another former Icer, didn't graduate - but he did transfer to Canisius to play for the Golden Griffins' NCAA Division I team. So in a sense, it could be said that 2013-2014 is the first year for whatever the "real" program will be going forward, as PSU attempts to follow up on a pair of dominant seasons ending with nationals bids.

That's not to say that the Ice Lions are barren. Far from it. Junior power forward Creek Lewis remains one of D2's best scorers, and he's complimented quite nicely by Taylor Vincent, an 18-goal man as a freshman last year. Ryan Urban, Franky Reluzco and Fredrik Linge are also names to watch up front, while senior standouts Chris Dinsmore and Max O'Malley will be expected to help a somewhat inexperienced blueline corps grow into the part as the season progresses. Teddy Steinhart is the presumptive starter in goal, although he'll be pushed hard by senior Martin Gudewicz and freshmen Michael DeGaetano and Matthew Erlichman.

Much like the Ice Lions, the Crimson Hawks (who, unlike most teams discussed here, have already started their season and carry a 1-1-0 record, as mentioned at the top of the post) face a few holes to fill. Top scorers Jeff Cupelli and Chase Keibler have departed, leaving Tyler Fitzgerald and Adam Kondraski under pressure to increase their production. Ryan Lord returns in goal, although he struggled a little bit in his first outing of the season, a 5-4 loss to Penn State Berks.