WIHC Unveils Second Schedule

Returning stars (left to right) Allie Rothman, Katie Vaughan, Carly Szyszko, Mary Kate Tonetti

The ACHA Division 2 Women's Ice Hockey Club has revealed its schedule for the 2013-2014 season, the team's second since it was born out of the massive reshuffling of PSU's hockey teams that resulted from the Icers and Lady Icers transitioning to varsity status.

First and foremost, some welcome news for those familiar with the club's scheduling woes in its inaugural campaign: PSU is now part of a conference and will be a charter member of the women's half of College Hockey East along with West Chester, Delaware and California (PA). Given that each of the four qualified for the ACHA National Tournament last season, CHE should immediately become one of the ACHA's toughest conferences in any division. The league slate will involve one home series and one away series (four games total) against each rival.

Notably, the men's side of CHE includes Penn State's commonwealth campus teams at Behrend and Altoona, as well as the top men's team at Cal.

Out-of-conference teams Michigan State, Liberty and Slippery Rock fill the remaining seven slots of 19 total. Overall, the WIHC saw four of its six opponents in 2012-2013, going a combined 4-4-0 against WCU, Cal, SRU and MSU.

Following the 2013-2014 regular season, which opens at home against Liberty on September 27th and closes at Slippery Rock on February 9th, the CHE playoffs will take place from February 21st through 23rd. The 2014 ACHA National Tournament follows and will be hosted by Delaware from March 13th through 16th.

Penn State's debut last year, of course, was one of the ages. The team battled through a light schedule, an ice time crunch at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, several game cancellations and the occasional opponent forgetting about a match (yeah you, Navy) to complete a 6-3-0 regular season and qualify for nationals in Ashburn, VA as the east region's fourth seed. A stirring run followed, as PSU mowed down west top seed Alaska and defending champ Wisconsin-Stout in the group stage, followed by another win over Stout in the semifinals on Nina Elia's overtime goal. West Chester, behind ACHA Player of the Year Becky Dobson's natural hat trick, proved too much in the national championship game though.

The WIHC is expected to return virtually its entire roster, making head coach Patrick Fung's squad an easy call as one of this season's title contenders. Included in that count: goaltender Katie Vaughan and forwards Mandy Mortach and Devon Fisk, who were named ACHA All-American honorable mentions back in March, with Vaughan (second team) and Fisk (first team) also collecting ACHA All-Tournament recognition. Forward Mary Kate Tonetti, also returning, was named the ACHA's Off-Ice MVP for community work.

Here's the full schedule:

Date	Time	Opponent	Location
Fri. Sept. 27	10:15 p.m.	Liberty	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Sept. 28	6:30 p.m.	Liberty	Galactic Ice Rink // Altoona, PA
Fri. Oct. 11	9:30 p.m.	California (PA)	Rostraver Ice Garden // Belle Vernon, PA
Sat. Oct. 12	4:15 p.m.	California (PA)	Rostraver Ice Garden // Belle Vernon, PA
Sat. Oct. 19	3:15 p.m.	Michigan State	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Oct. 20	8:30 a.m.	Michigan State	Galactic Ice Rink // Altoona, PA
Sat. Nov. 9	9:00 p.m.	West Chester	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Nov. 10	5:00 p.m.	West Chester	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Nov. 16	6:15 p.m.	Delaware	Rust Ice Arena // Newark, DE
Sun. Nov. 17	3:15 p.m.	Delaware	Rust Ice Arena // Newark, DE
Fri. Nov. 22	9:00 p.m.	Slippery Rock	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Dec. 7	2:00 p.m.	Delaware	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Dec. 8	11:30 a.m.	Delaware	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Jan. 18	3:30 p.m.	West Chester	Ice Line // West Chester, PA
Sun. Jan. 19	11:00 a.m.	West Chester	Ice Line // West Chester, PA
Fri. Jan. 31	10:15 p.m.	California (PA)	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 1	3:15 p.m.	California (PA)	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 8	9:00 p.m.	Slippery Rock	TBD
Sun. Feb. 9	10:30 a.m.	Slippery Rock	TBD
Fri. Feb. 21- Sun. Feb. 23	TBD	CHE Playoffs	TBD
Thu. Mar. 13- Sun. Mar. 16	TBD	ACHA National Tournament	Rust Ice Arena // Newark, DE

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.

Penn State-Slippery Rock Photo Gallery

Photos from Sunday morning's game between the Penn State ACHA women's team and Slippery Rock. Click for full size.

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The game's opening faceoff - Slippery Rock was still in it at this point.

Allie Rothman (20) looks to center for Devon Fisk (15).

Jackie Saideh had to don the number 28 jersey.

A great looking scoreboard and a battle in the corner - I think that's Saideh.

Nina Elia carries through center.

Fisk was a force all game on offense...

...and defense.

Scoring eight goals gives plenty of opportunity for center ice faceoff photos.

Those goal celebrations became pretty routine after a while.

SRU's Christy Pastucha tries to beat a PSU change.

Katie Vaughan made 10 saves in two periods of work.

Fisk examines a shooting lane.

Saideh provided good presence in front of the net.

The No. 5 team in ACHA WD2 probably enjoyed the handshake.

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.

ACHA Women Add Home Game Sunday

The first-year ACHA Division 2 women's ice hockey club announced Monday that it has added a first-ever home game this coming Sunday morning, December 9th, at 9:50 a.m. against No. 11 Slippery Rock (3-7-0, 3-3-0 ACHA WD2).

It will not be played at the Ice Pavilion, but at Galactic Ice at 750 Park Avenue in Altoona. For those unfamiliar, the rink is easily accessible from I-99, Exit 32 (about 40 miles south of State College) and located next to Blair County Ballpark, home of minor league baseball's Altoona Curve.

Penn State, recently ranked fifth in ACHA WD2, has been idle since stomping Maryland 5-0 on November 3rd behind Devon Fisk's hat trick to raise its record to 3-1-1. Fisk has six goals this season to lead the team and rank 10th in WD2 in goals per game. Other key contributors include several names familiar to fans of last season's final Lady Icers team, including captain Carly Szyszko, club president Mary Kate Tonetti, defender Allie Rothman, and a goaltending tandem of Katie Vaughan and Sarah Eisenhut with a combined goals against average of 0.99. A strong group of freshmen, including Nina Elia, Tara Soukup and Mandy Mortach, have stepped to the fore as well.

The game Sunday sets up as quite an important tilt, thanks to WD2's east-west system that sees the top four teams from each region invited to the national championship tournament regardless of their placement nationally. So while Slippery Rock is ranked 11th overall, the Pride is fifth among eastern teams, just one spot behind PSU's slot within the east. A win Sunday, then, would seem to go a long way towards solidifying Penn State's chances of playing into March.

The key to making that victory happen will be slowing down SRU forward Christy Pastucha. Pastucha who, like Vaughan (and several members of the NCAA women's team) is a Pittsburgh Penguins Elite product, has a ridiculous 21 goals and 24 points this season and will try to crack a defense that has only been scored on five times. It should be an intriguing matchup, and I encourage anyone able to get out and give this team some well-earned support for their long-awaited Central PA debut.

Here's the team's revised remaining regular season schedule (home games in bold):

December 9 vs. No. 11 Slippery Rock (at Altoona, PA), 9:50 a.m.
January 13 at Navy, 1:55 p.m.
January 26 at No. 2 West Chester, 5:15 p.m.
January 27 at No. 2 West Chester, 12:45 p.m.
February 9 at Buffalo (ACHA D1), 6:00 p.m.
February 10 at Buffalo (ACHA D1), 12:00 p.m.
February 22 vs. No. 11 Slippery Rock, 8:00 p.m.