UPDATED: Lost in the Flood

Josh Daley helped UW-Stevens Point to an upset of third-ranked UW-Eau Claire on December 1st.

UPDATED 12/23, 5:15 P.M.: The original version of this post did not include former Icer Dan Meiselman, now playing at NCAA Division III Connecticut College. Special thanks to Icers great Paul Daley for pointing out the omission.

Way back in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons, a favorite pastime of bored bloggers and their friends was guessing which Icers and Lady Icers would make the jump to the inaugural NCAA teams. There were consensus picks (Tommy Olczyk, Bryce Johnson, Nate Jensen, Taylor Holstrom and Justin Kirchhevel were generally stipulated on the men's side once they were on the team) and also plenty of disagreement. But regardless of the various player assessments thrown out there, everyone seemed to be on the same page in one significant way: there would be bloodshed. Probably lots of it, with only a tiny number of players moving up and many, many more being discarded.

It didn't really play out that way, at least not to the extent envisioned. A grand total of 35 players who played for the Icers or Lady Icers between the donation announcement and the opening of the NCAA era didn't make it to senior day as a member of the highest-level team at Penn State. There are 24 players on one of the NCAA teams who played for the Icers or Lady Icers. The nature of that reality depends heavily on perspective, but I don't think anyone on the outside expected anything close to a 40 percent keeper rate. A good number of tough conversations and hurt feelings along the way were inevitable, but I think both coaching staffs deserve to be commended on their handling of the transition from a numbers perspective.

In the interest of remembering the contributions of those 35 players who did not use up their eligibility due, at least in part, to the transition process (obviously, there are differing sets of individual circumstances in each case), let's put all of their names out there.

From 2010-2011 to 2011-2012

Men: Forwards Andrew Duval, Mike Broccolo, Joe Zitarelli and Alan Clark; defensemen Mac Winchester, Ryan Erbe and Kevin Miller; goaltender Dan Ivanir.

Women: Forwards Michelle Clarke and Lindsey Shuler.

From 2011-2012 to 2012-2013

Men: Forwards Tim Acker, Josh Daley and Dan Meiselman; defensemen Ryan Seibolt, Steve Edgeworth, Forrest Dell and Brandon Russo. Additionally, goaltender Tim Carr transferred from Penn State in the middle of the 2011-2012 season.

Women: Forwards Abbey Dufoe, Kirsten Evans, Katharine Gausseres, Denise Rohlik, Sydney Sherman, Carly Szyszko; defenders Lisa Frank, Paige Harrington, Julie Horn, Allie Rothman, Ashton Schaffer and goalies Katie Vaughan, Sarah Eisenhut and Mary Kate Tonetti. Forward Christina Hurle left the team right around the time Carr did on the men's side, with forwards Sam Summers and Alex Warren-Caldwell also appearing on the roster at the beginning of the season but not at the end.

So what became of them?

It might make this post a little anticlimactic, but the majority (19 of the 35) simply elected to retire - the word they like to use - and finish their Penn State degrees while still being invited to hockey parties. Not a bad way to go out.

Most of the remaining 16 are playing for PSU's ACHA Division 2 teams, the Ice Lions and the newly-formed Women's Ice Hockey Club. Since both teams receive regular coverage here and it would be at least partly redundant for me to talk about them in any great depth, I'll just list their stats so far this season.

First up, the women, who are 4-1-1 at winter break and ranked No. 5 in ACHA WD2.

No.	Name	GP	G	A	Pts.	PP	SH	PIM
14	Carly Szyszko	6	2	1	3	1	0	2
6	Mary Kate Tonetti	6	1	2	3	0	0	4
9	Ashton Schaffer	6	0	3	3	0	0	0
20	Allie Rothman	6	0	2	2	0	0	2
18	Alex Warren-Caldwell	2	0	0	0	0	0	0

No.	Name	GP	Rec.	Min.	GAA	SO	GA	Sht.	Svs.	Sv%
1	Katie Vaughan	5	3-1-1	238.17	0.86	1	4	98	94	0.959
31	Sarah Eisenhut	3	1-0-0	70.77	0.72	0	1	19	18	0.947

Now the men, who wrapped up their fall semester 13-4-1 (5-0-0 MACHA North) and ranked No. 4 in the Southeast Region of ACHA D2.

No.	Name	GP	G	A	Pts.	PP	SH	PIM
46	Joe Zitarelli	18	9	12	21	1	2	6
3	Brandon Russo	18	7	14	21	3	0	28
24	Mac Winchester	18	8	12	20	6	0	28
73	Mike Broccolo	18	6	13	19	1	0	4
77	Forrest Dell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

A very limited number, just four to be precise, sought to continue their hockey careers away from Penn State. Here's an update on how they're doing.

Josh Daley

Forward // 6'2", 185 pounds
Pittsburgh, PA

At Penn State: Daley looked to be one of the stars of the 2011 recruiting class, but never really got consistent ice time during his season with the Icers, playing in just 11 games (and often as a spare forward). He scored twice in a season-opening 12-1 rout of Lebanon Valley on October 7th, 2011, but was rarely heard from after that, putting up just four points over the rest of the season. When he was left off of this season's NCAA roster, he elected to transfer to NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

After Penn State: At UWSP this season, Daley has played in seven of 13 team games - although he's become a lineup regular of late by playing in the last six after participating just once in the first seven. He has a goal, two assists and ten penalty minutes in all, with the goal and one assist coming in the first period of an 8-0 rout of Wisconsin-Stout on December 7th. As a team, the Pointers are 7-5-1 (4-3-1 WIAC), with the undisputed season highlight coming on December 1st via a 4-3 overtime win against UW-Eau Claire, the third-ranked team in the nation.

Tim Carr

Goaltender // 5'10", 170 pounds
Pine Bush, NY

At Penn State: Along with Jake Friedman, Carr was considered one of the first two "NCAA" recruits, since the pair were the first to commit to play for PSU following the NCAA transition announcement - meaning, of course, that they were the first to come in specifically to take a shot at playing for the DI team. However, he quickly fell behind P.J. Musico and Matt Madrazo on the goaltending depth chart, and departed for NCAA DIII Western New England during the semester break of the 2011-2012 season. Carr played in just three games as an Icer - a 6-2 win at Rhode Island on October 28, 2011, a 9-0 blanking of Rutgers on December 3, 2011 and a 4-3 loss at Liberty on December 9, 2011.

After Penn State: At ECAC Northeast-leading WNE (4-1-0 conference record, part of a 6-5-0 overall mark), Carr has blossomed into a very solid goaltender and is one half of a 50-50 rotation the Golden Bears deploy, with Eric Sorenson picking up the remaining minutes. On the year, Carr is 4-2-0 with a 3.06 goals against average and a 0.915 save percentage. His save percentage ranks first among all ECAC Northeast goaltenders, while his goals against average is fourth. In Carr's two conference games so far, his numbers are even better: 1.50 and 0.958, both tops in the league. He was named the ECAC Northeast's goaltender of the week on November 20th after a 41-save effort in a 2-1 win over Salve Regina on November 17th.

Over the second half of last season after transferring, Carr posted a 2.49 goals against average in five starts and went 2-2-1 for a team that finished 14-12-1.

Tim Carr is now one of the DIII ECAC Northeast's best goaltenders at Western New England.

Paige Harrington

Defender // 5'11"
Mansfield, MA

At Penn State: Harrington was part of a huge 13-player freshman class for the Lady Icers last season, and unlike Daley and Carr, she was an every-game player at PSU, appearing in 26 contests. While the extremely well-liked and sturdy defender only scored one goal during the season, it was a spectacular end-to-end rush that stood up as the winner against Vermont on February 19th and helped clinch the ECWHL regular season championship. Despite those heroics, she was omitted from the inaugural NCAA women's roster and transferred back home to Massachusetts.

After Penn State: Now with ACHA Women's Division 1's UMass, a one-time ECWHL nemesis of the Lady Icers, Harrington has clicked to the tune of a goal and five assists in nine games. This time around, her goal was in defeat (5-4 at Liberty on November 9th), although Harrington hasn't done a ton of losing this season. UMass is ranked No. 7 in ACHA WD1, thanks to a 8-3-1 record that includes a pair of wins over the University of New England, a first-year NCAA DIII program. In the ACHA, UMass rallied from two goals down to tie No. 5 Northeastern 2-2 on November 30th. One week later, they beat No. 1 Rhode Island 2-0, with Harrington assisting on a shorthanded goal to open the scoring.

Dan Meiselman

Forward // 6'2", 205 pounds
Winnetka, IL

At Penn State: The big forward was part of the gigantic 2011 recruiting class, via the EJHL's Capital District Selects. In 14 games as an Icer in 2011-2012, he put up six goals and six assists. Two of those goals were the first scores in a 3-0 win at Oklahoma on January 7th that was pretty important to getting the season back on track after PSU lost two in a row (the Citizens Bank Park game against NCAA DIII Neumann and a shootout stunner against Central Oklahoma) to begin the spring semester. He also had a pair in a 13-2 rout of Rutgers on December 2, 2011, and goal-assist efforts in a win over West Virginia on January 20th and a loss at Delaware on November 18, 2011. Like Daley and Carr, Meiselman took the DIII route after missing on a shot at playing DI, winding up at Connecticut College.

After Penn State: At the New London, CT school, Meiselman has appeared in just one game this season, a 3-2 overtime loss at Williams on December 1st. The Camels, clearly suffering the effects of not having former women's player Jess Desorcie (who, of course, pulled a reverse Meiselman, going from CC to PSU) around anymore, are just 2-5-1 (1-4-1 NESCAC), although they did manage a road tie with 12th-ranked Middlebury on November 30th.