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.

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

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Box Score

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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.

Three Stars: September 9-15

The women's team was all smiles after moving into Pegula Ice Arena

3. Hockey Welcomes Five to 2013-14 Roster
(gogriffs.com)

As first reported here (yes, I closed my eyes and smelled myself as I was typing that), former Icers and Ice Lions defenseman Brandon Russo has transferred to Canisius, where he'll play for the Golden Griffins' NCAA team. He's now officially added to their roster.

ACHA to the show? Yeah, it's been done.

2. 2013-14 Men's Hockey Yearbook
(issuu.com)

The men's team's 2013-2014 yearbook is now online, complete with the usual trappings and the continued neglect of Icers history.

Alabama-Huntsville treats their club titles with the appropriate level of respect. The yearbook for the Lindenwood women contains all-time results for the ACHA years, ACHA records and even a full page highlighting their four national championship teams. Yearbooks for NCAA DI programs that have spent time in DII or DIII manage to highlight history from those eras.

Penn State had the most successful program in ACHA history, one that is directly responsible for Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and everything happening right now. There's no excuse.

1. The Move Into a New Home Signals New Era
(gopsusports.com)

It's old news by now, but easily the most enjoyable thing from last week - sorry student ticket line - was observing the excitement of the Penn State's hockey players as they moved into Pegula Ice Arena for the first time.

Best of the Rest

Former UConn Huskies Taylor Gross, Nicole Paniccia and Jenna Welch

@D1WomensHockey
(Twitter)

The ex-CONNS! Hahahaha get it?

Steve Hass, the guy behind that Twitter account, had a good week on PhotoShop, also dropping in TPeg Claus in recognition of the "Christmas" celebrated by the women's team last Monday and addressed in the first star (the men's team too I suppose, although they weren't knocking out Christmas carols ahead of their move-in).

@PennStateMHKY
(Twitter)

Big Ten media day is Thursday morning in St. Paul, MN, and most conference schools have named those in their respective delegations.

Penn State: Head coach Guy Gadowsky, Tommy Olczyk, David Glen
Michigan: Head coach Red Berenson, Mac Bennett
Michigan State: Head coach Tom Anastos, Greg Wolfe, Jake Hildebrand
Ohio State: Head coach Steve Rohlik, Curtis Gedig

I haven't seen announcements from Minnesota or Wisconsin yet. Of course, the Gophers can pretty much bring the whole damn team, should they choose.

A Very Special Move-In Day at Pegula Ice Arena
(statecollege.com)

Think Joe Battista had a good perspective on the move to PIA? Yeah, probably.

@AndyJohnsonB5Q
(Twitter)

It sounds like we're (finally) about to get the long-awaited Big Ten television schedule.

Since media day is coming up on Thursday, the guess here is that it will be revealed then to give pop to Big Ten hockey's first installment of what, generally, are pretty bland events stacked with "we're excited for the season" quotes and those preseason coaches polls that everyone talks about for two days before forgetting them.

Worth a quick mention: the CHA is entering the final year of a streaming deal signed in 2011 with America One, so the arrangement for the women will be identical to last season.

Penn State Hockey Roundup – One Month to Go
(Victory Bell Rings)

I've said this before, but I'm really glad people like Mary Clarke and IcersGuy (at Black Shoe Diaries) exist, because they both excel where I fall short: at taking a step back, a deep breath and a look around. Here's a solid ICYMI from Clarke to reset things.

A Manning Texts Mauti, Bacon Talks Origins of Book
(statecollege.com)

John Bacon's new book Fourth And Long, which looks at several college football programs during the 2012 season including obviously-newsworthy Penn State, has been a discussion machine of late with the pigskin crowd.

On Thursday, Bacon spoke at PSU and revealed that Josh Brandwene actually played a small, but vital, role in delivering full access to Bill O'Brien's program:

---

"The scene was Friday, April 20," Bacon said. "I was at a lunch for the ground of the new ice rink being broken. Bill was there and I let him know that I was coming. This wasn't an ambush at all. He was there and he knew I was coming.

"There was an empty seat at his table and Josh Brandwene, the current coach for Penn State women's hockey is sitting at the table. I had known Josh from over twenty years ago when we were both coaching at a Penn State hockey camp at the old rink. And he sees me and goes "Bakes!" and I think "Thank God." Before I know it I'm spending 15-20 minutes with Bill O'Brien just kind of introducing myself.

"Later on that day I walk across the street and he asks if I want to hop on the bus to take a ride to the stadium for the walk through before the night before the spring game. And I said 'Yes.' and I was there and then went to the spring game on Saturday and that's how the whole thing started. Rather informal actually."

---

Official Online Auctions
(gopsusports.com)

Piece of history alert: With the varsity teams both receiving new jerseys this season, the old ones have started to make their way to auction, with a blue 2 (Rich O'Brien) and a white 13 (Kenny Brooks) posted right now.

Can Casey Bailey snipe his way to Hobey Baker contention?

The Big Ten's Top 5 Preseason Hobey Baker Candidates
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Sophomore forward Casey Bailey wasn't in Nate Wells' top five Big Ten candidates for the Hobey Baker Award, but he did score an honorable mention along with seven others. Top 13 in the league? That's not terrible - have you looked at the talent in the league lately?

Women's Hockey Names 2013-14 Captains
(lindenwoodlions.com)

Alyssa West will be Lindenwood's captain this year, while Kendra Broad and Chelsea Witwicke will serve as alternates. Witwicke is a native of Roseville, MN and was a high school teammate of PSU's Paige Jahnke, while West came up in the Little Caesars and Victory Honda programs and is therefore pretty familiar to most of the PSU Michigan Mafia (Shannon Yoxheimer, Birdie Shaw, Katie Murphy, Madison Smiddy and Jordin Pardoski).

Michigan Loses Recruit Bryson Cianfrone to OHL
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Oooooh sorry about your luck Michigan!

In all seriousness though, losing Bryson Cianfrone to major junior isn't a crippling loss for the Wolverines. Cianfrone's Ann Arbor entry had already been postponed from this year until next year and he didn't exactly set the USHL on fire in 2012-2013 (as a teammate of Nittany Lions freshman David Goodwin and commit Alec Marsh in Cedar Rapids).

"Outside the Crease" with LVC forward Klayton Garman
(Stack The Pads)

Lebanon Valley College has always been an interesting program to me, for reasons including the fact that they keep the fires burning at old Hersheypark Arena and their status as sort of an anti-Penn State that fell off a cliff in NCAA Division III before resetting as a successful ACHA team.

Anyway... here's PennLive blogger Derek Meluzio's Q-and-A with LVC forward and York, PA product Klayton Garman.

Women's Ice Hockey Club seniors Carly Szyszko, Katie Vaughan and Allie Rothman

@raVAUGHANous
(Twitter)

This is how I want to remember the Ice Pavilion: some of my favorite hockey players under yellow-orange lighting... and a pretty legit photobomb from the Zam driver.

WIHC Announces Second Roster

Geosciences and biogeochemistry scholar Elizabeth Denis, a former NCAA player at Brown, returns.

The ACHA Women's Division 2 Penn State Women's Ice Hockey Club has announced a roster for the coming season, one that presents both challenges and opportunity.

The primary challenge involves making up the offensive production of Devon Fisk and Mandy Mortach, as PSU's top two scorers from 2012-2013 both decided to not play this season. There's really no other way to slice it: their combined 26 goals will either need to be replaced somehow or sorely missed. They weren't garbage-time tallies either - in the team's run to the ACHA national championship game in March, Fisk scored the winner against top-seeded Alaska in the tournament opener to serve notice. Mortach followed with a pair in a win over Wisconsin-Stout the next day, and in a rematch with the Blue Devils in the semifinals, Fisk may have scored with Penn State 8:40 from elimination to force an ultimately successful overtime (whether or not she touched Tara Soukup's power play blast on the way through is a point of some uncertainty, but at the very least, it was a good screen).

On the other side of the ledger, the team's defense and goaltending should be good. Really, really good. Starting in the crease, both netminders return. Katie Vaughan and Sarah Eisenhut are two of the ACHA's best, with the former winning All-American (honorable mention) and All-Tournament (second team) honors as a junior. While Vaughan was the usual starter a year ago, neither had a save percentage under 0.923 or a goals against average over 1.51.

In front of Vaughan and Eisenhut, Soukup, Ashton Shaffer, Allie Rothman and Jackie Saideh will try to carry on their status as one of the nation's top defenses. Reinforcements will help the WIHC run three pairs deep, as former Tier 1 player Kim Badorrek, Princeton Tiger Lilies alumna Cassie Dunne and Anna Marcus, an all-conference selection at Ridgefield (CT) High School last year, come on board. As stellar as the goalie stats were in 2012-2013, there's good reason to believe they'll be even better in the coming campaign.

There is promise in the forward group, even without Fisk and Mortach. For starters, Carly Szyszko is back for one more go as someone with proven scoring ability who simply does not get outworked. Former goaltender Mary Kate Tonetti enjoyed a very good first year ever without the pads and will only grow as a threat. Elizabeth Denis averaged a goal every other game after joining the team in the middle of last season and brings a physical dimension as well. The new players up front include Sam Summers, who previously played 48 games in two seasons (2009-2011) as a member of the Lady Icers. Once, on January 21, 2011, she enjoyed a three-point game in a 5-1 win over now-conference rival Cal (PA) that gave Szyszko a goaltending win (both of PSU's regular goalies were in Turkey for the World University Games at the time).

Other newcomers include Lucy Yeatman, Hannah Dier and Geneva Wagoner. Wagoner played for Millbrook School in New York, the New England prep Division II runners-up a year ago while Yeatman showed promise with the Chester County Skating Club.

Here's the full squad, which will open up in the Pegula Ice Arena's Community Rink against Liberty on September 27th at 10:15 p.m.

No.	Name	Pos.	Class	Shoots	Hometown	Last Team
1	Katie Vaughan	G	Sr.	Left	Pittsburgh, PA	Team Pittsburgh
3	Anna Marcus	D	Fr.	Right	Ridgefield, CT	Ridgefield HS
5	Nina Elia	F	So.	Right	Skaneatles, NY	Skaneatles HS
6	Geneva Wagoner	F	Fr.	Right	Alexandria Bay, NY	Millbrook School
8	Jackie Saideh	D	So.	Right	Concord, MA	Concord-Carlisle HS
9	Ashton Schaffer	D	Jr.	Left	Midlothian, TX	Alliance Bulldogs
11	Mary Kate Tonetti	F	Jr.	Right	West Chester, PA	West Chester Quakers
12	Taylor Nyman	F	Jr.	Right	Souderton, PA	Hatfield Angels
14	Carly Szyszko	F	Sr.	Left	Bensalem, PA	New Jersey Colonials
15	Hannah Dier	F	Fr.	Right	Wall, NJ	Wall HS
18	Kim Badorrek	D	Sr.	Right	Altoona, PA	Team Pittsburgh
19	Tara Soukup	D	So.	Left	Pittsburgh, PA	Ohio Flames
20	Allie Rothman	D	Sr.	Right	West Chester, PA	West Chester Quakers
23	Lucy Yeatman	F	Fr.	Right	Avondale, PA	CCSC Cougars
28	Elizabeth Denis	F	Gr.	Left	Durham, NH	Brown University
31	Sarah Eisenhut	G	Jr.	Left	Lansing, NY	Ithaca Shooting Stars
33	Cassie Dunne	D	Fr.	Right	Wyndmoor, PA	Princeton Tiger Lilies
36	Sam Summers	F	Sr.	Right	Ellicott City, MD	Susquehanna Rapids

Hockey Valley Homecoming

If tweets from Penn State hockey players arriving on campus for fall semester don't get your blood pumping, you may be an empty, red seat and should probably head over to Columbus. Enjoy.

You may be wondering about Jordin Pardoski at this point - after all, I used her photo at the top. Well, she gets her own category.

Let's get 'er going.

Club Sandwich: January 31st

Blueliner Tara Soukup pumped home the eventual winner in a key victory over West Chester.

Women

PSUWIHC.com box score and recap // Black Shoe Diaries recap

It's only a mild exaggeration to suggest that No. 4 Penn State, now 6-2-1, earned a bid to the ACHA National Tournament in Ashburn, VA from March 7th through 10th with a 2-1 win at second-ranked West Chester on Saturday. And it's no exaggeration at all to suggest that if invited, PSU will be among the title contenders - in four games against the nation's top two teams (California (PA) being the other), the team now has a 1-2-1 record.

Stealing from myself via PSUWIHC.com to decribe the signature win, because I can:

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Tara Soukup's second-period goal powered PSU to a 2-0 lead and would hold up as the game-winner. Freshman sensation Devon Fisk assisted Soukup and also scored the game's opening goal earlier in the period, with help from Mandy Mortach and Ashton Schaffer. Fisk now has 12 goals and 16 points in just nine games.

After going up two with 5:31 remaining in the middle frame, Penn State would continue to keep a potent WCU team at bay for most of the rest of the game. Although Becky Dobson broke Katie Vaughan's shutout bid with 1:09 remaining, the junior goaltender still polished off her fifth win.

---

PSUWIHC.com box score and recap // Black Shoe Diaries recap

While a sweep would have been unreal, PSU had to settle for a split - still an outstanding weekend considering the opponent and the stakes.

Once again, from the PSUWIHC.com recap:

---

On Sunday, Carly Szyszko connected on a third-period goal from Mortach and Mary Kate Tonetti to pull Penn State within 2-1 with 15:32 remaining, and just 37 seconds after Amanda Vito had scored the Golden Rams' second goal. But the team would not find an equalizer, despite a 31-27 shooting advantage over the course of the game. A couple minutes after a late power play was foiled by a quick PSU penalty, head coach Pat Fung called Vaughan to the bench for an extra skater, but the only outcome to the gamble was a game-sealing empty-netter by WCU's Colleen Tweedy.

Defensively, the team turned in a stellar effort, limiting Dobson, the leading scorer in ACHA WD2, to just one meaningless goal and one assist over the two games. Coming into the weekend, Dobson had a staggering 55 points in 12 games, part of an offense that averaged 6.58 goals per game - but was held in check by Vaughan and PSU's blueliners. The WIHC also successfully killed all eight WCU power plays over the weekend, including a 1:50 stretch of 3-on-4 and 3-on-5 time during Sunday's game.

---

A new ACHA WD2 poll is expected out this week, and while Penn State doesn't have much room for upward mobility, a jump to the third spot and added distance above the national tournament cutoff are reasonable expectations.

Penn State's next games - the last ones before nationals bids are awarded - will be February 9th and 10th at Buffalo, an ACHA WD1 team.

Mike Broccolo was among many seniors starring in their last Ice Pavilion weekend.

Men

Box score // Black Shoe Diaries recap

Seniors Ryan Demuth, Mac Winchester, Kevin Lowthert, Joe Zitarelli, Mike Broccolo and Tyler Starn received their official send-off with a Senior Night trashing of Monmouth that, as it turned out, was a showcase for many of those playing their final home weekend.

Fredrik Linge opened the scoring, from Austin Meehan, at the 6:16 mark of the first period, and the hosts never looked back. Chris Lewis - on the power play - and Linge expanded PSU's lead to 3-0 after 20 minutes, before Lewis added another and Joe Bonazelli also scored in the second.

The third period highlighted former Icers-turned-Ice Lions, as Broccolo, Zitarelli and Winchester scored to close things out. Broccolo also had a pair of assists in the game, while Zitarelli had one.

Demuth (nine saves) and Lowthert (seven) split a relatively painless shutout, in stark contrast to Monmouth goalie Stephen Bonora, who had 66 shots slung his way.

Box score // Black Shoe Diaries recap

The Ice Lions became the first of the four University Park hockey teams to play its final game at the Ice Pavilion - and a decisive win over Southeast No. 5 Rowan not only closed the barn in style, but gave Southeast No. 2 PSU some ammo in its push to secure an autobid to the ACHA national championships.

The Profs stunned Penn State 43 seconds into the game with a goal by Alekos Polis, and took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission when J.C. Caulfield scored on the power play with 11:40 left to answer Dylan Jones' tying goal.

Four unanswered goals - by Taylor Vincent, Peter Daley, Linge and Lewis - in the second period would give the Ice Lions the upper hand in the game, and Lewis would add an empty-netter with 19 seconds remaining in the game for the final margin. Ten different PSU skaters collected points, headed by Lewis' two goals, Brandon Russo's two assists, and Linge's one of each.

PSU will now take on a three-game weekend thanks to a makeup at Rider on Friday, a match initially cancelled by Hurricane Sandy in October. Previously-scheduled games at St. Joseph's and at UMBC are on Saturday and Sunday. Another Sandy makeup, a rematch at Monmouth on February 10th, will close out the regular season.

Club Sandwich: January 16th

Taylor Nyman and her orange laces made a three-point debut against Navy.

Women

PSUWIHC.com recap and box score // PSUWIHC.com highlights

Black Shoe Diaries recap // Mary Kate Tonetti/Carly Szyszko postgame video

Suffice it to say that the women's ACHA team had quite an interesting day on Sunday, one that began with their being locked out of the Ice Pavilion when preparing to make the drive to Annapolis for their first game of the new semester.

Once arriving at the Naval Academy, it quickly became apparent that Navy's team had forgotten about the game, scheduled for 1:55 p.m., and several options, including simply giving the ice time to PSU for a practice and recruiting some of the under-19s from the game scheduled prior to PSU-Navy were considered. But in the end, the Midshipmen were able to piece together something resembling their regular club.

For those who don't know, I've taken on the task of putting together a website for the team, so it would be kind of foolish to not plagiarize myself at least a little here in recapping the game, one notable for the successful debuts of semester break additions Taylor Nyman and Elizabeth Denis, both forwards (Denis, of course, played for the Lady Icers last year).

---

Mandy Mortach scored four times and added two assists, while five other players enjoyed multi-point games as No. 4 Penn State climbed to 5-1-1 with a 9-1 rout of the Naval Academy.

After a fairly slow and even start, Elizabeth Denis opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 with Devon Fisk 6:30 into the game. From there the floodgates opened, as just 28 seconds later, Carly Szyszko put back the rebound of a Tara Soukup shot. By the end of the first period, PSU had a 5-0 lead after Fisk created a turnover and fired home, Mortach buried a second rebound goal started by a Soukup shot during a PSU power play - then added her second four minutes later.

Navy did get a goal back on a rebound effort with 4:06 remaining in the second period, but not before Mary Kate Tonetti's redirection of a Szyszko pass followed by Tonetti's assist of a Mortach laser from the high slot pushed the game into blowout status.

In addition to Denis, and her goal in her re-introduction to Penn State hockey, Taylor Nyman made a highly-successful debut with the team. She scored the game's final goal from just outside of the blue paint while assisting on two others, including a late helper to Mortach on a 2-on-0 that she easily could have taken herself.

Katie Vaughan started in goal and gave way to Sarah Eisenhut after the first period. Both were outstanding, combining for 16 saves and continuing PSU's three-month streak of not allowing more than one goal in a game.

---

Fourth-ranked PSU is in for a much more difficult test next up on January 26th and 27th at No. 2 West Chester. It goes without saying, but those two games carry huge implications for the next ACHA WD2 poll, due out the week following those games, and therefore for the ACHA national championship tournament.

Max O'Malley scored an important goal last Friday against Liberty.

Men

Box score // Black Shoe Diaries recap

The Ice Lions also opened their semester over the weekend, with the always-tough Virginia road trip to face MACHA South Division opponents Virginia Tech and Liberty - but thanks to two tight wins it was a successful one, as Penn State is now 15-4-1 overall.

Despite a first-period Ryan Urban goal and heavy dominance on the shot board, the Ice Lions found themselves facing a third-period deficit against Liberty on Friday, due to Flames tallies from D.J. Dinnison (twice) and Bobby Cervone in the middle frame surrounding PSU defenseman Max O'Malley's second goal of the season.

The contest swung back in the Ice Lions' favor thanks to a late second-period boarding major to LU's Seth Reed. Penn State took full advantage of that glorious opportunity by scoring twice on the long power play, once by Chris Lewis (from Joe Zitarelli) and also by Urban (from Mac Winchester and Tyler Starn). Goalie Ryan Demuth (25 shots, 22 saves) held things down for the last 16:05 of the game, including through two Flames power plays.

Box score // Black Shoe Diaries recap // HockeyYall.com recap

Against Virginia Tech the next night, the Ice Lions allowed the game's first goal, to the Hokies' Alex Hashmi, with just 15 seconds remaining in the first period. Perhaps even worse than that, PSU failed to capitalize on four power plays during the stanza, including a long 5-on-3.

The team recovered well though, with Peter Daley's rebound goal tying the game during the middle stages of the second period and Urban finally cashing in a power play with a backhander shortly after. Fredrik Linge assisted on both goals.

Demuth, who turned in another strong effort with 23 saves on 25 shots, surrendered a Virginia Tech goal to Peter Veltri with Starn in the box for interference halfway through the third to tie things back up just after a 5-on-3 ended. However, he stopped two of three Hokies during the shootout that followed a scoreless overtime, allowing goals by Zitarelli and Brandon Russo to give PSU the win.

The Ice Lions, who have likely solidified their position of second in the ACHA D2 Southeast Region (significantly, a ranking that would earn an autobid to the ACHA national championship tournament) with the two wins over the regional Nos. 7 and 8, have just six regular season games left. The first two of those are this coming Friday and Saturday at Kentucky, home of two ACHA legends: midnight starts and schedule posters.

Three Stars: December 24-30

3. Penn State Hockey Tailgate
(psu.edu)

College of Communications alumnus/alumna? Planning on going to the Penn State-Vermont game in Philadelphia on January 19th? Good news: you have a place to pregame.

2. How Stuff Works - College Hockey Edition, Part 3: NCAA and Junior Hockey
(Black Shoe Diaries)

IcersGuy continued his outstanding series explaining college hockey to the masses last week with a tutorial on the junior hockey system.

If you missed it, Part 1 outlined the differences between club and varsity hockey, while Part 2 discussed college hockey's ever-changing conference alignment.

1. PSU Moves Up in Season's Second Poll
(psuwihc.com)

The PSU Women's Ice Hockey Club finally has a website. It might look a little familiar, but hopefully the webmaster's grind can make up for it. Also, the team has a new Facebook page, and their not-new Twitter account is still there, so get after that.

Captain Carly Szyszko (pictured) and the fourth-ranked team are back in action on January 13th at Navy for a Sunday afternoon tilt.

Best of the Rest

@Cmen12
(Twitter)

Because the men's team didn't use their allotted morning skate time on the second day of the Three Rivers Classic, women's players Cara Mendelson and Katie Murphy did. Well played.

Penn State Smaller Sports Weekly Roundup
(Black Shoe Diaries)

It's a good thing that IcersGuy dropped the second-star post this week, because BSD needed to win some karma points back after this steaming pile. Not only is men's hockey a "smaller sport" in BSD's estimation (I mean, it's no wrestling, after all), but it gets treatment like:

Because the NHL is still locked out (LULZ @ U HOCKEY FANZ)...

...and proceeds from there with some lazy, predictable trolling of both Penguins and Flyers fans. Didja know, for example, that PSU has more wins than the Flyers this year?!?! Because they're locked out!!!! Get it?!??!?!?

Jenna Hendrikx Takes Time from NCAA Season to Attend Do It for Daron Event
(Bleacher Report)

As much (deserved, mostly) criticism as Bleacher Report takes, it actually does deliver pretty good women's hockey stuff, including this quick feature on Mercyhurst's Jenna Hendrikx. Hendrikx attended a Provincial Women's Hockey League game over the holiday break to benefit Do it for Daron, a foundation created to honor the life of Daron Richardson, the daughter of then-Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson (and a PWHL player herself) who tragically took her own life in 2010. Do it for Daron supports teen suicide and depression awareness and causes.

NCAA 2012-13 Women's Hockey Midseason Report Card
(Bleacher Report)

Mercyhurst's Christine Bestland gets tabbed as college hockey's midseason MVP in this slideshow, while Rebecca Vint of Robert Morris scoring five goals against Penn State on November 10th is given best single-game performance so far. Someday we'll be on the other end of things like that, I promise.

Colonials Ink Seven for 2013-14 Season
(rmucolonials.com)

As long as we're on the CHA, Robert Morris released the names of a pretty strong group of signees for next season. Over one month after the early signing period closed, but hey, better late than never.

Kale Dolinski and his ASU teammates went 1-1 in British Columbia over the weekend, losing to UBC but beating Simon Fraser. Photo: Allyson Cummings/House of Sparky.

Sun Devils Get Big 5-3 Win, Split Canadian Series
(House of Sparky)

While Arizona State's SB Nation blog tends to be a little... uhhh... homertastic concerning the school's ACHA team, it does provide very good coverage, including of the Great Northwest Showcase over the weekend. The Burnaby, BC event involved games between ACHAers (and Penn State opponents) ASU and Oklahoma, and Canadian non-varsity power Simon Fraser as well as the CIS program from the University of British Columbia.

Long story short, the ACHA representatives were blasted by the Canadians to the tune of a combined 12-2 count on the showcase's first day. However, the Sun Devils bounced back with a win over Simon Fraser on Saturday after losing to UBC, while Oklahoma extended the Thunderbirds to overtime to follow up their loss to SFU.

MSU salvages 1-1 tie against WMU But Falls in Shootout
Spartans drop 3rd place game to Michigan 5-2
(The Munn Minute)

In another holiday tournament involving a future PSU opponent, Michigan State settled for a fourth-place finish at the Great Lakes Invitational after a third-period barrage boosted archrival Michigan to a 5-2 win in the GLI consolation game. On the first day of the tournament, Western Michigan and Michigan Tech (the eventual champion, for the first time since 1980) ousted the two Big Tenners from title consideration.

I guess I should point out that the GLI was originally scheduled for the Detroit Tigers' Comerica Park this year before being moved back to its customary Joe Louis Arena home. Thanks so much, NHL players and owners.

12/9 Postgame: Mary Kate Tonetti, Allie Rothman, Carly Szyszko

Comments from (left to right in the video) forward Mary Kate Tonetti, defender Allie Rothman and forward Carly Szyszko following the ACHA women's team's 8-0 win over Slippery Rock Sunday morning.

ACHA WD2: Penn State 8 vs. Slippery Rock 0

Box score

Back in September, I wrote this:

Hopefully you'll forgive me if one day, when this blog has run its course, I end up volunteering with Akron or another ACHA team local to wherever life takes me between now and then.

Little did I know how short that wait to volunteer would actually be, or that it would end while TYT is still running full tilt.

Here's the story: I arrived at Galactic Ice in Altoona shortly before 9:00 Sunday morning for the 9:50 puck drop between the ACHA women and Slippery Rock. Things started off pretty well, as I was allowed up to the mezzanine level just above the benches, where I set up a makeshift press box by hauling a table over from the party room. The rink's wifi was down, but I wasn't overly concerned with that - I could just skip the live blog, take notes, and write a recap. Put that together with a postgame interview and a few photos, and I'd be satisfied that I gave the team the coverage it deserves.

With setup complete and seeking to snap a few photos during warmup, I went back downstairs. My stay wasn't temporary though, because nobody was available to run the scoreboard. So, in the participatory sports journalism tradition established by George Plimpton, with much trepidation, and after PSU coach Pat Fung gave a quick tutorial, I did. And, with Kim Vaughan (the mother of Penn State starting goalie Katie) working the scoresheet next to me, I had a blast.

I think I did fairly well too, considering. The button to start the clock was rather unreceptive, so the 17-minute periods were probably about 17:18 in actuality. I did make mistakes on both of the game's penalties, though. On the first, to Slippery Rock leading scorer Christy Pastucha, I punched in number 21 instead of her actual 41. More egregiously, on a third-period tripping call to PSU's Jackie Saideh, I put eight minutes of penalty time up on the board and held up the proceedings for a minute (that felt like about 20) while I scrambled to fix it.

Perhaps I was subconsciously trying to help balance out the game, which to be honest, wasn't much of one, with Penn State blowing out Slippery Rock to finish its first fall semester 4-1-1. Devon Fisk - who now has 10 goals in six games - scored four times, as did OHA product Mandy Mortach. Vaughan (34 minutes) and Sarah Eisenhut (17 minutes) split a relatively easy 14-save shutout and watched 36 shots launched at Pride goalie Tori Sheffel in the opposite crease.

Captain Carly Szyszko helped open the scoring with an assist on Mortach's transition effort, while Mary Kate Tonetti and Ashton Schaffer added a pair of apples each. Allie Rothman's first-period bomb set up the 3-0 goal that unofficially signaled the end of any reasonable doubt as to the game's outcome. A stout team defensive effort rendered Pastucha, who had 22 goals in 10 games entering the contest, a non-factor, and Vaughan and Eisenhut saw their already-microscopic goals against averages drop to 0.86 and 0.72, respectively.

Really, there was nothing to dislike from a Penn State perspective, including the big-picture implications. An expanded national tournament for ACHA Women's Division 2 this season will see the top four eastern and western teams invited to Ashburn, VA in March. Fourth in the east right now? PSU. Fifth? Slippery Rock. It could be said that Sunday's game drew a thick, black line between tournament and non-tournament teams, but that's probably an understatement (although as we learned with the Lady Icers in in both 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, don't trust the ACHA polls to get it right).

Before that though, there are more games to be played and more statements to be made. The second half of the schedule opens at Navy on January 13th, followed by series at West Chester, at D1 Buffalo and the regular season finale on February 22nd at the Ice Pavilion.

As for me? I'm just hoping they need someone to run the scoreboard on the 22nd. Or do anything else for that matter, that day or before then. And while I have no immediate plans to quit blogging, I think I've added more specificity to my goals for when that time comes. Hey, you guys do need a website...just saying.

Club Sandwich: November 6th

Containing Devon Fisk (15) proved impossible for Maryland Saturday night. Photo: Kim Vaughan

Women

Freshman sniper Devon Fisk's hat trick boosted Penn State (3-1-1) to a third straight win, 5-0 at Maryland Saturday night.

Goalies Katie Vaughan and Sarah Eisenhut, who are 1-2 in ACHA Women's Division 2 in goals against average, bolstered that status with a combined shutout of the Terps, who entered the game with a 3-1-0 record and scored 18 times during a three-game winning streak that PSU snapped. Vaughan played the majority of the game and made 15 saves, before Eisenhut finished up the last couple minutes, saving a pair. PSU fired 28 shots on the Maryland cage.

Fisk jump started the offense early by scoring on the very first shift of the game, then added another in the second period. Penn State's third tally came from a somewhat unusual source: Mary Kate Tonetti, who played goalie for the Lady Icers last year (and before that, obviously) but moved to forward this year to help the team achieve positional balance. It was her first-ever goal, although she scored like she had been doing it for a while, with two Terps proving no contest for the former West Chester Quaker.

Mary Kate Tonetti sheds the defense en route to her second-period goal. Photo: Kim Vaughan

In the third period, Fisk scored her third of the game and sixth of the season, while captain Carly Szyszko finished things off on a breakway.

The club's next game is scheduled to be their Ice Pavilion debut on December 14th, although no opponent has committed for the date as of yet.

Men

Despite having their pair of games in New Jersey postponed for obvious reasons, the Ice Lions (6-2-1, 3-0-0 MACHA North) were not light on news last week. Senior Joe Zitarelli, an Icer for two seasons, was named captain for this season, succeeding the graduated Jim Recupero. He'll be assisted by fellow senior Mac Winchester and sophomore Chris Lewis.

Furthermore, the first set of ACHA Division 2 rankings of the season were released Thursday. Penn State was voted fourth in the southeast region, behind Miami, Rowan and Bowling Green. It's worth reiterating that the top two teams in each of the four regions at the end of the regular season get autobids to the ACHA national tournament, while the teams ranked third through tenth in each region compete in a playoff to determine the other half of the national championship contenders. Long story short, the Ice Lions are in position to keep the season going right now, but they'd prefer to climb at least two slots by February.

This weekend, the team will travel to Siena College in Loudonville, NY for games against the Saints, William Paterson and Florida Gulf Coast. It's a pretty daunting slate of games, as all three of those teams appeared at nationals last year, and all three are ranked in the top nine of their respective regions this year. It's made even more difficult by the fact that following the Sunday morning game with FGCU, PSU will head down to Hershey for a night game against ACHA D1 Lebanon Valley College.