Club Sandwich: October 8th

Taylor Vincent had a three-point evening in a blowout of Saint Joseph's on Friday

ACHA D2 Ice Lions

Following up their pair of blowout wins over ACHA Division 1 Indiana (PA) to open the season, the Ice Lions did something even worse to Saint Joseph's to open their Mid-Atlantic College Hockey schedule with a win at Pegula Ice Arena Friday night.

Ryan Urban got things started just 40 seconds from the opening faceoff, and the goals came even faster after that - by the 1:45 mark of the first period, it was 3-0 PSU thanks to Taylor Vincent and Abe Edson. Edson would complete a hat trick with goals in each of the final two periods while adding an assist to Peter Daley's 6-0 goal midway through the second, while Urban added a second goal and an assist on Spencer Svoboda's third-period power play snipe. Svoboda, in addition to that marker, added a couple of helpers during the stat-padding affair.

Chris Dinsmore's slapper from the dot boosted the Ice Lions to a 4-3 overtime win over MACH rival Temple the next day in Penn State's toughest test of the season to date. With the victory, PSU climbed to 4-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the MACH North Division.

Tim Acker gave the Ice Lions a 1-0 lead midway though the first period, but he was answered just 32 seconds later on a breakaway by the Owls' Steven Luongo. Temple went ahead in the second when Joseph Pisko slammed home Stephen Kennedy's rebound, but a holding call to TU moments later helped Urban re-knot the contest off of Acker's setup. Late in the second period, during a 4-on-4 stretch, Acker collected his third point and second goal to put Penn State back ahead into the third period. Once more though, the trailing team had a reply thanks to the Owls' Phil Vassilev with 6:23 remaining in regulation.

Grad student Ryan Fullerton, who previously played at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, turned in a sound effort between the pipes.

Next up, the Ice Lions will head to the ACHA Showcase in Kalamazoo, MI this weekend to take on power programs SIU-Edwardsville, Michigan State (the defending national champs) and Grand Valley State.

Tyler Lantz (19) and Larry Barretta (17) helped Berks to a weekend sweep

Around the Commonwealth

Note: Apologies for the fact that I've neglected the team at Penn State Harrisburg in these updates - despite my best efforts, I simply can't locate anything out there about them. If you have any information, or at least know where I can find it, let me know in the comments and I'll add them in.

ACHA D1 Berks (4-2-1, 1-0-0 ECHA)

October 4th: W 10-3 vs. Cortland State
October 5th: W 5-1 at Lehigh

The Blue Lions bounced back from a tough two losses in three (one coming in overtime) weekend to blow past both Cortland State and Lehigh. In the win over the Red Dragons, a tight 2-2 game early in the second period was blown open by consecutive goals from Chris Cashin, Tyler Lantz and Tommy Demusis - then followed by five more from Berks in the third period after Cortland had trimmed the score to 5-3 late in the second. Larry Barretta, who already has nine goals and 15 points this season, scored twice to help seal the follow-up in Bethlehem the next day.

ACHA D3 Altoona (3-1-0, 0-1-0 CHE)

October 5th: W 7-3 at George Mason
October 6th: W 6-2 at George Mason
October 7th: L at California (PA)

Following their riveting season-opening win over IUP at Galactic Ice, Toontown headed down to Virginia for a series with George Mason. In the opener, Jeff Nelson clicked for two goals and an assist, while Ben Kinch added a pair of helpers in addition to his own tally. Nick DeLaurentis had a pair of goals as well, with Adam Badorrek and Conlan Sodrosky scoring the others. Freshman goaltender John Travis got the win in his first career start. The rematch featured many of the usual suspects starring offensively: Kinch scored twice and Nelson and Sodrosky each got one, as did Steven Fedena and Luk Devorski.

Details concerning Altoona's Monday night loss at Cal weren't immediately available.

ACHA D3 Behrend (3-1-0, 1-0-0 CHE)

October 4th: W 7-5 at Washington & Jefferson (D1)
October 5th: W 8-0 at Washington & Jefferson (D1)

While few would confuse W&J with Oklahoma among D1 programs, Behrend was still very impressive in securing a pair of road wins against a team two divisions up. On Friday, PSUB took a game tied at three after 40 minutes and outgunned the Presidents in the third period to win 7-5. The next day, Sam Stroud's shutout was supported by a Justin Leonard hat trick as well as two goals from Jared Bagnato.

ACHA D3 Brandywine (4-0-0, 1-0-0 DVCHC)

October 4th: W 7-3 vs. Alvernia
October 5th: W 7-3 at Rowan

Perennial ACHA regional tournament participant Brandywine is off to another great start thanks, most recently, to a pair of 7-3 wins over the weekend. The first, against Alvernia, was the team's DVCHC opener and powered by four goals from senior and Archbishop Wood graduate Drew Haber as well as a goal and three assists from Billy Gregg.

Club Sandwich: February 19th

Chris Lewis was named to the MACHA all-tournament team

Men

In their last game before the ACHA National Championships begin on March 15th in St. Louis, the Ice Lions fell to Virginia Tech in the MACHA title game Sunday morning in Abingdon, MD. The setback dropped PSU to 25-5-1 overall and snapped the team's 16-game winning streak. Prior to that, Penn State defeated Temple and Rider in the league tournament on Friday and Saturday to with the North Division half of the bracket and reach the final.

The Hokies started the game coming hard on the forecheck and to the front of the net, and it paid off with a quick 2-0 lead. First, 5:53 into the game, Tyler Daley sniped from the left circle after a scramble in front got Ice Lions goalie Kevin Lowthert down and the puck skipped out the Virginia Tech senior. About four minutes later, defenseman Peter Veltri floated a shot on net that Mitch Clark knocked home.

VT had ideas of going up three, as a long two-man advantage followed shortly after Clark's goal. However, PSU killed it to help siphon the game's momentum for the rest of the period and into the second - which paid off when Franky Reluzco cut the Hokie lead in half. On a three-on-three rush, Reluzco sped in down left wing, dropped the puck for trailing Taylor Vincent, then went to the crease to get it back and score. Tech had an answer, however, with seven minutes left in the frame when Kevin Peak found a loose puck in the slot with Brandon Russo in the box and flipped a backhander in past a pile of bodies.

Penn State took to the offensive for much of the third period as well, and finally got Virginia Tech in some penalty trouble, which led to a second Ice Lions goal. Seconds after a 5-on-3 PSU advantage narrowed to 5-on-4, Mike Broccolo deflected Mac Winchester's point shot past Walker Detweiler. Detweiler - who would be named tournament MVP - held up the rest of the way however, despite a 40-26 PSU shooting advantage for the game.

For the Ice Lions, Chris Lewis and Winchester joined Detweiler on the all-tournament team.

Details from Penn State's first two MACHA playoff games are somewhat sketchy (box scores weren't submitted to the ACHA website for any of the games, and conflicts with PSU NCAA games kept me from watching), but here's what we do know, gathered mostly from the opponents' Twitter accounts (just to explain why their goal scorers always have names and ours don't).

Temple News recap

In the first-round clash with Temple, the Owls struck first on a shorthanded breakaway by Greg Malinowski. The Ice Lions regrouped, however, and as they so often do, scored in bursts - this time with two goals in the last 2:55 of the first period to take the lead into the locker room. After 39:55 of scoreless hockey that followed the second PSU goal despite tons of penalties (particularly in the second period), the Ice Lions added insurance with 48 seconds left in the game.

Temple coach Jerry Roberts told the Temple News that his team may have earned a better result:

“In my opinion, Penn State is one of the top teams at our level in the country and partly in tonight’s game, we felt we were the better team,” Roberts said. “Not that we’re necessarily a better team than they are, but to be able to execute properly to 60 minutes the way we felt we could all season, showed we were capable of playing those big teams.”

Much like Temple the day before (and Virginia Tech the day after, as it would turn out), Rider was able to get an early advantage on the Ice Lions, thanks to Pete Malamud's tally from Tyler Deitrick at 8:40 of the first period. And much like the day before (but not the day after, unfortunately), PSU answered in numbers, this time with three second-period goals that were enough to survive Chris Daley's third period effort.

As mentioned, PSU earned an autobid to nationals prior to the tournament, and will join Marist, New Hampshire, Grand Valley State, Michigan State, Miami University, Utah State, Arizona State and eight other teams to be determined in battling for the D2 title March 15th through 19th.

Defender Ashton Schaffer will try to boost PSU over Cal - and six other teams - at nationals

Women

Like the men, the women have qualified for their ACHA national tournament and will join California (PA), West Chester and Delaware from the East Region, as well as Wisconsin-Stout, Alaska, North Dakota State and Minnesota-Duluth from the West Region in Ashburn, VA from March 7th through 10th.

Before that however, the Women's Ice Hockey Club, 6-2-1 overall, will play the final game at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion by any Penn State intercollegiate hockey team (the somewhat crazy side to that is the fact that it's their only game at the rink this season, and therefore ever) Friday night at 8:00 p.m. The opponent: Slippery Rock, a team PSU defeated 8-0 back on December 9th in Altoona, thanks to four goals each from Devon Fisk and Mandy Mortach, as well as a shutout split between Katie Vaughan and Sarah Eisenhut.

Club Sandwich: February 12th

Men

On Monday, and for the second consecutive season, the Ice Lions earned an autobid to the ACHA National Championships by finishing the season ranked in the top two of ACHA Division 2's Southeast Region.

In all, eight teams are now officially bound for St. Louis March 15th through 19th by virtue of the autobid route:

Northeast: 1. Marist, 2. New Hampshire
Central: 1. Grand Valley State, 2. Michigan State
Southeast: 1. Miami (OH), 2. Penn State
West: 1. Utah State, 2. Arizona State

The other half of the nationals field will be determined through four sets of regional playoffs including the teams ranked third through tenth over the weekend of February 22nd through 24th - those will narrow things down to two additional qualifying teams per region. Notably, PSU Mid-Atlantic College Hockey Association (MACHA) rivals UMBC (3rd), Liberty (4th), Virginia Tech (7th), Rider (8th), Rowan (9th) and Maryland (10th) will all participate in the Southeast's tournament.

From there, the 16 contenders will be assigned to four pools, each containing one team from each region and also one team from each seeding band - so the Ice Lions are guaranteed to draw one of Marist, Grand Valley State or Utah State in their pool, if you're following along. Each team will play the other three pool members over the first three days of the tournament, with pool winners advancing to the semifinals on March 18th, ahead of the championship game on March 19th.

Last year in Fort Myers, FL, the Ice Lions blasted Siena 5-0 and Northern Arizona 9-0 before being eliminated 4-2 by Grand Valley State, which won the pool and went on to lose to host Florida Gulf Coast in the championship game.

While almost an afterthought next to the leading news, PSU finished out its regular-season schedule by clubbing Monmouth on Sunday afternoon in a game making up for a Hurricane Sandy cancellation back in October.

Details of the win (beyond the score by periods, obviously) were not available as of late Monday night but regardless, the Ice Lions have closed the regular season 23-4-1 and on a 14-game winning streak. Superficially, it reads a lot like last season, when PSU broke off a 20-game winning streak to close the regular season, then added five more through the MACHA playoffs and nationals before the aforementioned loss to GVSU ended both the streak and the season.

Speaking of the MACHA playoffs, the Ice Lions, owners of a perfect 10-0-0 MACHA North Division record, will be the top seed for the league's tournament this coming weekend in Abingdon, MD. Penn State's first opponent will be Temple on Friday at 8:00 p.m., then (assuming wins) the winner of a Rider/Rowan game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and the winner of the MACHA South half of the bracket (which includes UMBC, Liberty, Virginia Tech and Maryland) for the title on Sunday morning at 9:45 a.m. PSU is 9-0-0 this season against teams appearing at MACHAs.

Freshman Devon Fisk is one of just 11 players in WD2 to average more than one goal per game

Women

For the ACHA WD2 Women's Ice Hockey Club, 6-2-1 overall, a tough first season with respect to scheduling took another blow over the weekend when a highly-anticipated series at WD1 Buffalo was cancelled (and will not be made up) due to Winter Storm Nemo.

There is good news, though. First, and most significantly, the team has verified its eligibility for the WD2 national championship tournament with the ACHA despite just playing eight association games (Navy was not registered at the time of PSU's 9-1 win on January 13th). On a related note, and following a crucial split with second-ranked West Chester on January 26th and 27th, Penn State was ranked as the East Region's number three team on February 2nd.

	East	Pts.	...		West	Pts.
1	California (PA)	9		1	Alaska	11
2	West Chester	20		2	UW-Stout	19
3	Penn State	27		3	Minnesota-Duluth	29
4	Delaware	33		4	Minot State	35
5	Connecticut	42		5	North Dakota State	44
6	Slippery Rock	54		6	UW-La Crosse	54
7	Liberty	62		7	Iowa State	68
8	Maryland	98		8	Michigan State	86
				9	Rainy River	96
10	South Dakota State			10	South Dakota State	127

One more ranking for this season will follow on February 19th, when the top four teams from each region will be invited to nationals March 7th through 10th in Ashburn, VA.

Regardless of an invite to ACHAs, PSU will play its last regular season game on February 22nd against Slippery Rock - the only Ice Pavilion match for the team this season, and the last Ice Pavilion game for any of Penn State's intercollegiate teams.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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 23rd

Taylor Vincent scored four goals in the Ice Lions' series with Kentucky.

Men

Kentucky Kernel recap // Black Shoe Diaries recap // Kentucky Kernel photos

Kentucky, while 9-17-0 this season and generally not in the ACHA Division 2 national conversation, is still an extremely tough road trip. Long noted for their schedule posters featuring an array of not unattractive women, UK is also famous for their midnight start times and for drawing large and raucous crowds, even at that hour.

None of that seemed to present much of an issue for the Ice Lions last Friday night in a blowout win.

Kevin Lowthert earned the shutout in net, but the story of the game was PSU's steady barrage that saw goals by Austin Meehan and Taylor Vincent punctuate a 25-9 shot advantage in the opening period. In the second 20 minutes, a Chris Lewis rebound goal from a Joe Zitarelli shot, a Tyler Person snipe through a screen and a Will Vaeth backhander essentially clinched the game's result.

PSU leading scorer Franky Reluzco, who assisted on Vincent's first-period odd-man rush goal, performed most of the third-period mop-up duties. The sophomore from Frederick, MD scored a hat trick entirely within the frame, with only Vincent's tip-in preventing Reluzco from going natural.

Kentucky Kernel recap // Black Shoe Diaries recap // Kentucky Kernel photos

The blowout on Friday, tighter game on Saturday pattern tends to appear quite frequently in weekend series, and indeed, it turned up for the back half of the set with Kentucky, forcing the Ice Lions to grit out a vital win. UK jumped out of the gate quickly and built a 2-0 lead with 5:44 left in the opening period, before Vincent's deflection of a Brandon Russo shot on the power play cut the deficit to one at the first intermission.

Although Mike Broccolo tied the game up just 16 seconds into the second period, the Wildcats weren't done, as they capitalized on a second-chance opportunity seven minutes later.

Junior Matt Hudzinski would earn his first goal in a UK jersey to recapture the Cats’ lead, 3-2. He said the feeling of scoring his first goal was unbelievable.

“When that puck crosses the line, hearing the crowd cheer and knowing that it’s all for you is an incredible feeling. Much different than when you’re sitting on the bench,” he said.

A Chris Lewis interception of an errant pass right in front and his subsequent bury with 6:53 left would pull the Ice Lions back even at 3-3 and initiate a scoring burst to close the period. Vincent's rebound goal with 2:38 left gave PSU its first lead and Lewis joined Vincent as a two-goal man by finishing shorthanded off of a feed from Russo with 39 seconds remaining. The two-goal lead heading into the third period would prove to be important.

With under six minutes played in the third, senior Matt McLaughlin scored the Cats’ fourth and final goal of the night, falling short of the comeback.

“I’ve never been so happy after a loss. It’s a moral victory,” [UK goalie Aaron] Tenfelde said, adding that he generally hates moral victories. “I’m not really a kumbaya hockey player.”

It's fair for Kentucky to claim a moral victory against heavily-favored Penn State, but the Ice Lions will certainly accept the actual victory, as each win is important in a tight race for the second spot in the ACHA Southeast Region rankings, and the autobid to the national championships that comes with finishing in the top two. PSU, the current no. 2, is now 17-4-1 overall and on an eight-game winning streak. The team, however, faces a stiff test this weekend in hosting Monmouth on Friday and Rowan on Saturday in their last-ever Ice Pavilion games. Rowan is presently the fifth-ranked team in the Southeast, although the Ice Lions defeated the Profs 3-1 on December 15th.

Don't worry, you guys. Katie Vaughan's got this. Also, her mask is the sickness.

Women

The women, still 5-1-1 and ranked fourth in ACHA WD2, have been idle since a 9-1 blowout at Navy on January 13th, but that status won't last long. On tap this weekend: two gigantic games at No. 2 West Chester.

It probably doesn't need to be said, but the series will almost certainly go a long way towards determining whether PSU will make the ACHA national championships in Ashburn, VA from March 7th through 10th. Pat Fung's crew is in position to receive an invite right now as the third-best team in the East Region, and with just this weekend and a pair of games at WD1 Buffalo remaining before the final ranking is released, two wins in four might be enough to lock down a bid.

Obtaining those wins Saturday and Sunday certainly won't be easy. The Golden Rams are 11-1-0, with the only blemish on their record coming from California (PA), the top-ranked team in the country, and one that WCU also has beaten this season. Junior forward Becky Dobson paces the West Chester offense with an eye-popping 36 goals and 19 assists this season - her goal, assist and (natually) point totals are all tops in WD2.

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).

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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.

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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.

Club Sandwich: December 20th

Sophomore forward Chris Lewis was deadly on the power play Friday night against Berks.

Men

The Ice Lions, which beat ACHA Division 1 Penn State-Berks 8-3 at the Ice Pavilion to open the season, took a little longer to get going on Friday in southeastern Pennsylvania. Eventually though, strong special teams proved too much for Berks in a decisive win to climb to 12-4-1.

After some back-and-forth action to open the game, Max O'Malley scored about 13 minutes in to put the University Parkers ahead for good. Chris Lewis made it 2-0 at the first intermission with a power play goal set up nicely from behind the goalline by Joe Zitarelli. Berks and goalie Michael Narrigan continued to stand tall through most of the second period, and very nearly escaped the middle frame at 2-0 before Zitarelli created a turnover on the forecheck while shorthanded that was buried by Brandon Russo in the last minute of play.

The relentless Ice Lions power play finally put things out of reach in the third period, when Taylor Vincent scored on a cross-crease pass from Peter Daley while on the advantage. Lewis followed up with a his second PPG of the game, a dirty effort assisted by Zitarelli and Mike Broccolo in which he collided with Narrigan while scoring. Lewis, by the way, clearly won that confrontation. While he was knocked to the ice, he made the most of it with a snow angel celly. Narrigan, on the other hand, was knocked out of the game and watched as Justin Golia gave up two late goals to pad the margin a little.

Ryan DeMuth survived the mediocre beaks of the home crowd ("number one, your five-hole is ginormous big," for example) to turn in a solid effort despite allowing a late goal - through his six hole (between the stick/blocker arm and body).

HockeyYall.com recap

PSU followed up the Berks win with an even bigger one - 3-1 over Rowan, the Southeast Region's second-ranked team, to climb to 13-4-1 heading into the semester break. With the Ice Lions fourth in the region entering the game, some upward movement on the back of this result seems likely in the next D2 poll, expected out Friday. It also vaults PSU ahead of the Profs into the driver's seat of the MACHA North at 5-0-0 in the league.

Because it's literally the only information I could obtain online about it, here's most of the HockeyYall.com recap - I thought it would be rather disingenuous to lift information from there and restate it in my own words without bringing anything additional to the table.

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In both teams’ most meaningful game of the season to date, Penn State defeated Rowan 3-1 Saturday in New Jersey to improve to 13-4-0-1 and strengthen its hold on first place in the Mid-Atlantic College Hockey’s North Division.

After a goaless first period, Mac Winchester scored in the second to give Penn State a 1-0 lead that it carried into the third, where the Ice Lions outscored the Profs 2-1. Frederick Linge and Mike Broccolo scored for PSU to help gain the win for goalie Ryan DeMuth.

"[It was] a tight game from start to finish," noted Matt Morrow, Penn State’s head coach.

Erich Moen scored the lone Rowan goal.

"We played okay," said John Caulfield, the Profs’ head coach. "Couldn’t buy a goal. Missed about eight rebound chances wide or bouncing over sticks. Frustrating."

The win was the Ice Lions’ sixth in their last seven games. They will resume their season Jan. 11 at No. 6 Liberty, another MACH opponent.

After going undefeated and untied in their first 11 games, the Profs were 4-4-1-1, including three losses in their last four games, and stand at 15-4-1-1 today. They’ll return to the ice on Jan. 6 against Montclair State.

"The Virginia Tech loss (7-1 on Dec. 7) was the only bad loss," said Caulfield. "We were totally outworked there. The UMBC (Maryland-Baltimore County) and PSU games, we just couldn’t score. And when we made mistakes, they scored. We need the break — injuries and tired bodies."

Both Penn State and Rowan are likely to see a change in their status when the ACHA releases its third Southeast Region ranking of the season this week, with the Ice Lions moving up the ranking and Rowan heading South.

Katie Vaughan - helped by the defense of Allie Rothman - tops the ACHA in save percentage.

Women

There's not much new to report on the women, who hit the break at 4-1-1 after thrashing Slippery Rock 8-0 on December 9th. The team is undoubtedly hoping to see some upward movement in the second ACHA Women's Division 2 poll of the season - due out this past Sunday, but unreleased as of this post - on the back of that win.

Several team members rank at or near the top of the ACHA WD2 statistical charts. Goaltenders Sarah Eisenhut and Katie Vaughan are 1-2 in goals against average, with a 0.72 and a 0.86, respectively. Vaughan leads in save percentage with a 0.959 mark, and Eisenhut's 0.947 is fourth. Offensively, freshman sensation Devon Fisk's 10 goals are tied for 11th overall, but 7th when counting on a per-game basis.

Club Sandwich: December 12th

Senior Joe Zitarelli opened the game's scoring on Saturday against Temple.

Men

Box score

It's not often that great passing gets headline status, although through the Ice Lions' performance against Delaware it probably earned the privilege, as PSU's first three goals were all the product of pretty set-ups.

Neil Laessig opened the scoring 4:14 into the game by snapping one past Delaware goalie Joe Marshall after a nice Will Vaeth indirect pass started a rush. He was quickly answered by Matthew Gumina on the power play, but the Ice Lions would surge back ahead with a three-goal second period.

Two minutes into that frame, Taylor Vincent finished a 2-on-1 with Reluzco. That was followed with Chris Lewis going five-hole on a give-and-go and Joe Bonazelli's backhand-forehand-shelf goal. The Blue Hens did pull within two in the third period thanks to Trevor Richmond slamming one home from the back door, but Ryan Urban squelched any comeback notion by finally finishing a shorthanded breakaway, after PSU had been denied on two attempts earlier in the game.

In goal, Teddy Steinhart turned in a workmanlike 21-for-23 effort, while - and how's this for balance - 12 different Ice Lions registered points, but none had more than one.

Box score // Daily Collegian recap

Penn State didn't waste any time jumping all over Temple in a key MACHA North matchup, as Vincent put back Reluzco's rebound 4:03 into the game, and after a long stretch of PSU dominance (the Ice Lions won the first-period shot count 25-5) Joe Zitarelli made it 2-0 ten minutes later from Mike Broccolo. Another pair of goals - Urban, from a Reluzco feed that deflected in off of his skate and Brandon Russo through traffic - in the first 3:18 of the second period effectively sealed the game's outcome.

Temple did escape being shut out in the highly-physical contest that saw 14 minor penalties handed out, as well as injuries to Laessig and Vaeth from a scary first-period collision. With five minutes remaining in the second period and Chris Dinsmore off for tripping, the Owls' David Brewer connected on the power play to make the score 4-1. However, goalie Ryan Demuth and a defense that only forced him to make four third-period saves shut the door the rest of the way.

The Ice Lions, now 11-4-1 (4-0-0 MACHA North) and ranked fourth in the Southeast Region of ACHA Division 2, will close their fall semester schedule this coming weekend with two very tough games at Division 1 Penn State-Berks (Friday) and at the Southeast's second-ranked team, Rowan (Saturday).

Women

I covered the ACHA women's team's 8-0 blasting of Slippery Rock in its first-ever home game Sunday morning separately, so here are those posts one more time:

ACHA W: Penn State 8 vs. Slippery Rock 0
12/9 Postgame: Mary Kate Tonetti, Allie Rothman, Carly Szyszko
Penn State-Slippery Rock Photo Gallery

The short-notice game (it was just announced just five days before it was played) may prove quite important for No. 5 PSU, now 4-1-1. ACHA Women's Division 2's next poll is due out Sunday, and the win over No. 11 SRU will stand as the team's only contest since the release of the current ranking, dated November 18th. In other words, without it, Penn State would have been in the unenviable position of trying to tread water without playing a game between polls.

Furthermore, among a tightly-packed cluster of teams, co-No. 3 Delaware is just four points clear of Penn State for fourth place overall and (more importantly, given the format of the national tournament) third among East Region teams. The Blue Hens are 1-1-0 since the present poll came out, and only beat The Rock 6-3 on November 17th. Could Sunday's result trigger upward movement for PSU? Here's hoping.

The women resume their schedule after break with a game at Navy on January 13th.

Club Sandwich: November 27th

Freshman forward Mandy Mortach and her teammates are ranked fifth in ACHA WD2.

Both of University Park's ACHA teams were out of action last weekend and will remain so this weekend. However, both recently received top five recognition in their respective polls.

Women

The first ACHA Women's Division 2 rankings of the year were released over the weekend, with Penn State placing fifth overall, fourth among teams in the East Region.

                        Pts.  E/W
1. California (PA)        7   (E)
2. West Chester           8   (E)
3T. Wisconsin-Stout      22   (W)
3T. Delaware             22   (E)
5. Penn State            26   (E)
6. North Dakota State    27   (W)
7. Minnesota-Duluth      38   (W)
8. Michigan State        42   (W)
9T. Wisconsin-La Crosse  45   (W)
9T. Minot State          45   (W)
11. Slippery Rock        50   (E)
12. Rainy River          60   (W)
13. Connecticut          64   (E)
14. South Dakota State   70   (W)
15. Alaska               75   (W)

According to the ACHA website, the WD2 tournament has been expanded to eight teams this season, up from six last year. Despite the issuance of a combined ranking this time around, it's more important to note each school's placement relative to others with the same east-west designation, as the top four from each of the two regions will receive an invite to the national championships. The tournament will take place over the second weekend in March at the Ashburn Ice House in Ashburn, VA.

Long story short: Penn State, which presently has a 3-1-1 record, is in as of this moment. Undoubtedly, the pollsters were impressed with PSU's sweep at No. 8 Michigan State on October 13th and 14th, and possibly even with two tight losses at No. 1 Cal (one in overtime) to open the season.

The next ranking, due out in mid-December, will be interesting because if Penn State is to be punished for its (understandably, given that it's a first-year organization and the soon-to-be-alleviated ice time crunch in central Pennsylvania) light schedule, it will likely be in that poll as no games will be played between now and then. Six games in January and February - including against No. 2 West Chester and No. 11 Slippery Rock - will keep PSU front-of-mind after that point.

Men

For the Ice Lions, still 9-4-1 (3-0-0 MACHA North) following a home split with Ohio on November 16th and 17th, the latest ACHA Division 2 Southeast Region poll was more confirmation than novelty since it was the second ranking of the season.

                        Pts.
1. Miami (11)             9
2. Rowan                 20
3. Bowling Green         33
4. Penn State            40
5. MD-Baltimore County   41   
6. Liberty               50
7. Toledo                56
8. Rider                 82
9. Virginia Tech         84
10. Temple               93
11. Delaware             96
12. Maryland            102
13. Florida Gulf Coast  105
14. Pittsburgh          127
15T. Akron              131
15T. Dayton             131

Others receiving votes: Georgetown, Ohio

Penn State held steady at fourth, and behind the same three teams as in the first poll. Given some of the game results to date - notably PSU's 7-3 loss to Miami at the ACHA Showcase on October 6th - it's hard to take too much issue with the team's placement. No. 2 Rowan, of course, is a MACHA North rival of the Ice Lions, and games on December 15th (at Rowan) and January 26th (at the Ice Pavilion) will provide an obvious opportunity for PSU to improve its position.

In ACHA D2, the top two teams in the Southeast and each of the other three regions at the end of the regular season receive an automatic bid to the ACHA national tournament, held March 15th through 19th in St. Louis. Teams ranked third through tenth in each region battle for two other bids (per region, so eight total) in regional tournaments on the weekend of February 23rd and 24th.

The Ice Lions are back at it December 7th and 8th, with home games against Delaware and Temple.

Club Sandwich: November 13th

Sophomore forward Franky Reluzco (one goal, two assists) had a good weekend at the Siena Showcase

Men

While the much-anticipated frankenweekend for the Ice Lions did not develop (a second game on Sunday at ACHA Division 1 Lebanon Valley College was cancelled), PSU still had a tough task in the form of three top D2 programs at the Siena Showcase. Mission accomplished: the Ice Lions are now 8-3-1 (3-0-0 MACHA North) following a 2-1-0 mark in Loudonville, NY.

Box score

The Ice Lions opened up by blasting the hosts on Friday evening, courtesy of five different goal scorers and a 16-save effort from Kevin Lowthert.

Franky Reluzco, PSU's leading scorer so far, tallied about ten minutes into the game with an unassisted effort, and Joe Zitarelli made it 2-0 from Chris Lewis and Mike Broccolo just 44 seconds later.

In the second period, Siena's Brian Sisti answered with Austin Meehan in the box for a butt-ending major, but a barrage from Fredrik Linge, Neil Laessig and Taylor Vincent over a 6:10 span later in the period ended any comeback thoughts the Saints may have entertained.

The game was a rematch of one from last year's ACHA national championships, won 5-0 by Penn State.

Box score // WPUHockey.com recap

In the always-dangerous middle game of a tough weekend, PSU was downed 7-1 by New Jersey's William Paterson University. WPU, now 7-2-1, is a D2 power, having appeared at the ACHA national championships each of the last four years.

Still, the score was a little flattering to the Pioneers. Thanks to a Lewis goal (assisted by Tyler Person and Max O'Malley), PSU was only down 2-1 heading into the second period and missed a prime opportunity to tie the game with 1:31 of carryover power play time on fresh ice. The Ice Lions also outshot WPU 20-10 in the first period.

“We needed to make adjustments because our goaltender won that period for us”, said [WPU] Coach [Joe] Ballance.

The score remained 2-1 late into the second period when a Pioneer timeout after an icing call played a role in shifting the game away from its established tightness.

“We wanted to both regroup and get a fresh line out on the ice because of the no change icing”, said Coach Ballance. After the timeout, the Pioneers played with some energy and would score a minute later as Freshman Mark Apidopolous (Paramus, NJ) would score his first goal of his collegiate career with assists coming from Kyle Garlasco and Ryan Mara. “It was a great feeling to get my first college hockey goal. I got a great pass from Garlasco and I got all of my shot and it beat the Penn State goaltender,” said Apidopolous.

Following the Apidopolous goal, the floodgates opened. The freshman added a second to cap the game's scoring, but Jonathan Craig, Jeremy Lewis and Matthew Hunter also scored in between the two.

Box score

PSU wrapped up what, on balance, has to be considered a successful weekend by dusting the defending ACHA Division 2 national champions. Florida Gulf Coast has actually struggled so far this year at 3-6-2 overall, but did beat Oakland (the team that ended the Icers' final season is presently ranked 8th in D1) 5-1 back on October 5th to show that they still have something in the tank.

The Eagles were unable to score until finally breaking Lowthert's shutout bid with 32 seconds left - but by then, the Ice Lions had already bombed FGCU goalie Ryan Lynch with 49 shots, scoring on seven of them. Ben Snow had two snipes, while Lewis added a goal and two assists. Broccolo, Zitarelli, Meehan and Vincent were the other Ice Lions goal scorers.

Women

Following the blowout of Maryland on November 3rd that boosted the team's record to 3-1-1, it's increasingly likely that the ACHA women are done for the semester, as they have been unable to secure an opponent for the scheduled December 14th home game (it's proven tough to book largely because it involves finals week travel for many schools). Without that game, the team's next match won't be until January 13th at Navy.

The first Women's Division 2 poll of the season will probably be released this week - it will be interesting to see how the coaches handle PSU, which does meet minimum game requirements for an ACHA National Tournament invite. For ranking purposes, teams are divided into east and west regions, with the top four from each region at the end of the year receiving a bid to the championships.

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.