Midnight in a Perfect World

Here are a few photos from the midnight practice held by the Nittany Lion men Friday night/Saturday morning at Pegula Ice Arena to officially get the season underway. All are by and courtesy of Steve Hass. Click on any one to open the gallery view.

Redshirt junior forward Max Gardiner

Sophomore forward David Glen

Freshman goaltender Eamon McAdam

Sophomore defenseman Connor Varley

Freshman defenseman David Thompson

The remainder are posed shots from the public skate that followed practice.

McAdam

Freshman forward David Goodwin

Freshman defenseman Mike Williamson

Redshirt sophomore forward Eric Scheid

Men's Jersey Countdown: #11 David Glen

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

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

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

Three Stars: July 15-21

3. Record 68 PSU Student-Athletes Honored as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars 
(gopsusports.com)

Hockey players Tommy Olczyk, Lindsay Reihl and Kate Christoffersen were among the 68 Penn Staters named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars last week, an honor for student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.7 or higher. What makes it especially impressive is that none of the three have actually played in the Big Ten.

In all seriousness, people like them (and the many other outstanding students on both the men's and women's teams) are why I'm proud to blog about Penn State hockey. Also, #culture.

2. The Pipeline Show - Season #8 Clips
(The Pipeline Show)

Last Tuesday evening - July 16th, show number 56 if you're digging at the link - Penn State's own David Glen spent an hour in The Pipeline Show's studio, along with Adam Tambellini, a promising prospect who played in the BCHL last season, and host Guy Flaming. While nothing earth shattering happened, it was nice to get a little more in depth than is typically the case with a recorded one-segment interview. And as you may have expected, Glen showed well enough to demonstrate why he's probably the leading candidate to wear the C after Olczyk graduates. For that alone, it's worth a listen.

By the way, something kind of fantastic: at the beginning of the second segment, both Glen and Tambellini plugged their Twitter accounts, and Flaming followed up by asking the latter how much his follower count blew up after he was picked in the third round by the New York Rangers at the NHL Draft on June 30th. That prompted me to check both of their pages. Tambellini, who is headed to North Dakota, has just under 1,500 followers. Undrafted Glen, who plays at Penn State, is over 2,000.

So yeah, welcome to the big-time college hockey, Fighting Sioux Flickertails fans.

1. Liquor Control Board Suspends G-Man’s Liquor License
(Onward State)

State College bar Gingerbread Man, generally known as G-Man and for its bro-tastic clientele, had its liquor license abruptly suspended at some point between July 13th and July 16th for reasons unknown. Shortly after the news spread, the following appeared on the establishment's Facebook page (assume a quote-long "[sic]"):

To all my G-man friends Thank you for all your continued support. The G-Man will be closed for the next few weeks. We will open again in early August and we will have NEW Menu, New Management, New Specials, and New ownership in process. We are very excited to bring back the old tradition of the G-man as a great restaurant, that happens to be a great bar! We are extremely excited about the future of the G-man so we hope you will be there to support us as we move forward. Thanks

Since 2009, G-Man has been owned by The Hat Trick Group, Inc., which includes former Icers coach Scott Balboni, current Women's Ice Hockey Club coach Pat Fung (who in the past has also coached the Ice Lions and Lady Icers, while assisting with the Icers) and former Icer Teague Willits-Kelley. However, it appears as if the era of hockey-based bar ownership in town may be coming to a close.

Best of the Rest

EA Sports re-ups on college football after NCAA snub
(USA Today)

There was a day, not all that long ago, when people persistently suggested that college hockey could or should or might be added to EA's popular NHL series of video games, which presently includes the major-junior CHL, as well as the AHL and professional leagues across Europe. That event now seems further away than ever with the NCAA buried in litigation over the use of player likenesses in EA games covering other sports, namely football and basketball - litigation that has prompted the NCAA to pull out of games subsequent to the just-released NCAA Football 14.

The involved parties will continue to find a way to produce a college football game, as the NCAA's withdrawal is largely symbolic (the rights to the various schools' names, logos, etc. are handled through the Collegiate Licensing Company, not the NCAA). However, the football games make money, while EA has killed both the NCAA March Madness/NCAA Basketball (1998-2010) and the MVP: NCAA Baseball (2006-2007) series that didn't. Given the questionable marginal value of adding college hockey to the NHL game and the current legal climate, it ain't happening anytime soon. It simply wouldn't be lucrative enough to negate the exposure, in my amateur judgment.

But hey, we'll always have Icers hall of famer Curtiss Patrick in NHL 09, right?

Trophy Michaels Pegula Ice Arena Tour 
(YouTube)

Here's a nice 2:41 chunk of a Pegula Ice Arena tour, shot primarily on the floor of the main arena, but also including some of the underneath stuff like the Zamboni area and the dry lockers.

NCHC Announces Inaugural CBS Sports Network Schedule
(NCHC)

The conference built to grab a massive television payday will have all of 18 games on CBS Sports Network, which is sort of like NBC Sports Network, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN, just without the viewers, sponsors, carriage or high-end programming. Well done, boys.

Of interest: on November 15th, CBS Sports will carry a doubleheader involving both Wisconsin (at Miami) and Michigan (at Nebraska-Omaha), if you're the sort of person who likes to scout future Penn State opponents. I'm guessing that if you read hockey blogs in July, you probably are.

WMU to build new hockey arena on campus
(Bronco Hockey Hot Stove)

NCHC school Western Michigan is rumored to be - there is no way I'm going with "reportedly" on this source - building a new arena. It is rumored to cost $16 million. Have fun with that, I guess.

Badgers receive 2013 WCHA Final Five playoff championship rings
(Bucky's 5th Quarter)

Due to declining ticket sales, Wisconsin sold sponsorship of its 2013 WCHA playoff championship rings to Chevrolet.

Lindenwood Adds Samantha Ullrich To Coaching Staff
Lindenwood Announces 2013-14 Recruiting Class
(lindenwoodlions.com)

It was a busy week for Lindenwood's media relations people. Penn State's CHA rival added an assistant coach on Thursday, former Robert Morris Colonial Samantha Ullrich, who most recently was on the staff of Team Pittsburgh's U19 AAA squad that won the 2010 USA Hockey national championship. Two days before introducing Ullrich, LU announced its eleven-player freshman class for the coming season. Like PSU, the Lions have gone in hard on Minnesota high school players, grabbing three this time around - including Nicole Rash, a teammate of Nittany Lions freshman Sarah Nielsen at Edina.

No NHL for now, but could UW hockey thrive in Seattle?
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Never forget where you came from, Penn State.

My thoughts on west coast NCAA hockey haven't really changed in the last couple years. It could be a big deal. A really big deal. As I say that I'm looking at Washington, the subject here, located in a major city that, by all accounts, loves hockey and includes what seems like a workable short-term arena solution (as we know, that's kind of important). And also at schools like Arizona and Arizona State, home to two of the ACHA's best-run and best-supported programs. Of course, there's also the rapidly-growing California hockey scene, touching on a bunch of other Pac-12 universities.

The biggest problem is that somebody has to be first, and that's not such an appealing position as a geographic outlier that runs the risk of getting Huntsvilled. Seriously, which conference takes an unproven startup program nowhere close to any existing program, and one that is more or less guaranteed to leave when its primary conference can get to six? The WCHA, which many think is already overextended based on its new place in the universe? The NCHC, which was formed when a few power schools ditched long-standing rivals that were perceived as bad for the bottom line? Once the ball gets rolling, there's no stopping it. But right now, it's hard to see who can push the thing forcefully enough.

HARBORcenter Reaches Agreement with Marriott, Shaner Hotels to Develop Hotel Facility
(Buffalo Sabres)

From the "it's not what you know, it's who you know" department: HARBORcenter, Terry Pegula's rink, hotel, retail and restaurant complex in downtown Buffalo, has contracted with Shaner Hotels to operate a Marriott at the facility. Shaner, for those who don't know, operates 36 hotels in 14 states (plus another in Italy) and is headquartered in State College. Oh yeah, and they sponsor Penn State hockey. It's not terribly difficult to put those dots together.

Canisius - which presently calls the campus rink of Division III Buffalo State "home" - has been in negotiations to play at HARBORcenter once it opens in 2015. Additionally, the twin rinks that will also be connected to the Sabres' First Niagara Center should be an appealing option for major tournaments.

Several Teens Reportedly Paddled With Hockey Sticks In Alleged Hazing Incident
(CBS Pittsburgh)

I don't really like the word "hazing," because people who engage in it don't really deserve a softened version of "being a douchebag who is guilty of assault." Whatever you want to call it, it's alleged to have happened with Upper St. Clair High School's hockey team. Suck less, guys.

How To Do A Bieber Fangirl Story: Ask About The Eagles’ QB Dilemma
(Deadspin)

The Women's Ice Hockey Club's Allie Rothman, in the course of her internship at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia this summer, edited a video featuring CSN's Sarah Baicker asking fans outside of a Justin Bieber concert last Wednesday about the Eagles' quarterback situation and about the Beebs-Blackhawks locker room story. It's about as fantastic as you'd expect, and as a result, it ended up on Deadspin. Rothman reacted by tweeting that "I don't know whether to be proud or horrified" of the notoriety. Proud, Alexandra. Definitely proud. Rule of thumb: if you're involved in something that ends up on Deadspin and it's not there because of you being an idiot in some way, soak in the viewership and enjoy.

Ice chips: Doerring leaves UVM; Frosh confirmed; Todd leaves Spartans; Fan forum fun
(Burlington Free Press)

In a move that affects two separate Nittany Lions opponents, junior defenseman Blake Doerring is transferring from Vermont to Ohio State. He only played four games last season due to injury (after 29 as a freshman), so it's tough to call this one paradigm shifting, although the Buckeyes will benefit from having a sturdy stay-at-home guy when he's eligible to play at OSU in 2014-2015.

The Catamounts also lost junior forward Mike Montagna to Division III Oswego this offseason. Montagna only played in 11 games for UVM last year, but one of them was the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff against PSU - he was a -2 with one shot on goal in the contest.

@ChristiVetter (1, 2)
(Twitter)

An easy call for best tweet(s) of the week: 2014 women's commit Christi Vetter, during the ESPYs last Wednesday evening. I sincerely feel bad for anyone who missed Vetter's Lakeville North fall 4-3 in six overtimes to Minnetonka in February's Minnesota AA state semifinal. Despite the loss, Vetter may have been the best player on the ice, as she willed the Panthers back from a 3-1 deficit with a pair of second-period goals to force (lots of) extra hockey. Of course, PSU freshmen Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen weren't exactly terrible either, with the former assisting the latter on the game-winner after each had an assist in regulation.

Olczyk Re-Elected Captain; Jensen, Glen Alternates

David Glen will add a letter to his jersey for the coming season

For the second straight year, Tommy Olczyk will captain the Nittany Lion men, and Nate Jensen will serve as one of the alternates (the correct term, not "assistant"). The leadership roles were chosen through a team vote, so I suppose the real news would be if they weren't re-elected.

Also determined by that vote: forward David Glen, he of the unstoppable motor complimented with a surprising amount of offensive ability, will be the second alternate captain, replacing the graduating George Saad.

By being named captain for a second time, Olczyk joins a rather distinguished list, as only Art Gladstone, Roy Scott, Bill Proudman, Greg Smith, Lynn Sipe, John Ioia, C.J. Patrick, Scott Curry and Keith Jordan have worn the C for multiple seasons in the history of Penn State hockey. Of that group, only four-year captain Proudman held the role for more than a pair of seasons, company Olczyk will have a chance to join in 2014-2015.

Here's the team's release:

---

Forward Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.) has been named captain for the 2013-14 Penn State men's hockey team, while defenseman Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.) and forward David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) have been tabbed assistant captains, head coach Guy Gadowsky announced Thursday. The trio was selected through a team vote.

"Entering our first year in the Big Ten Hockey Conference, we will need great leadership to expedite the learning process in order to compete with some of the most storied programs in college hockey. The three captains, who were elected by the team, are excellent choices for that challenge," Gadowsky said. "Tommy, Nate and David exhibit high levels of work ethic and commitment both on and off the ice and a genuine caring for Penn State University, the Athletics Department and our hockey program. The coaching staff agrees fully with the team's choices."

A two-time captain, Olczyk appeared in 26 games during the Nittany Lions' inaugural NCAA Division I season. The Long Grove, Ill., native collected three goals and an assist and ranked fourth on the squad with 69 shots. The forward was one of three Nittany Lions to net a shorthanded goal, a feat he accomplished against Michigan State Jan. 25.

A Shorewood, Minn., native, Jensen will serve as an assistant captain for the second straight season. The blueliner, who skated in 22 games, tied for seventh on the team in points (9) and finished eighth in assists (7). Jensen collected two three-game point-scoring streaks during the season and notched an assist on the program's first goal at the NCAA Division I level.

One of four Nittany Lions to appear in all 27 games, Glen tied for third among all NCAA rookies in goals (16) and led Penn State in plus/minus (plus-9), shots (117) and faceoff percentage (.584). The Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., native also ranked second on the team in points (25) and was fourth in assists (9), while adding two power-play and game-winning goals.

In 2012-13, Glen firmly established himself in the Penn State record books after securing many program firsts. The forward recorded the program's first hat trick, game-winning goal, multi-goal game, multi-point game and overtime goal. Glen's first game-winning marker and overtime tally came on the same shot as he sent the Nittany Lions to their first NCAA victory with a 4-3 triumph against AIC Oct. 13.

Three Stars: April 1-7

3. Men's Hockey Announces 2012-13 Team Awards
(gopsusports.com)

Team MVP and Freshman of the Year: David Glen. Top Scorer: Casey Bailey. Top Defenseman: Nate Jensen. Player's Player: Connor Varley. Top Student-Athlete: Tommy Olczyk. There, saved you a click.

2. Keystone State of Mind
(College Hockey News)

Ahead of the Pittsburgh Frozen Four this weekend, CHN wrote a love letter to the growth of hockey in Pennsylvania, which includes plenty on Penn State, including quotes from Guy Gadowsky on his issues going out to eat during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It also tossed in a...

More than 12,000 fans flooded the gates both days to see Penn State hockey play in Pittsburgh for the first time. (emphasis added)

...which bothers me a little (pretty sure "Penn State hockey" has played in Pittsburgh numerous times before). Unlike some people I could name, I'll assume the writer in this case meant well, so I'll overlook the error when scoring the piece as a whole.

1. Pegula Ice Arena Virtual Tour
(YouTube)

Another pretty easy call for top star honors, because after all, gotta squeeze things like this in before the actual arena makes them obsolete (and it's pretty close to doing so). How could one not be pumped after watching that... right, commenter Ryan Progin?

I think the arena is disappointing.

Oh, okay.

Best of the Rest

Prisuta on Pucks: Wait 'Til Next Year
(rmucolonials.com)

From the not-at-all-surprising department, the agreement for Robert Morris' stand-alone game at the Ice Pavilion this past December included a return trip for 2013-2014.

Next season’s [Colonials'] non-conference schedule will include two games at Lake Superior, a home-and-home series against Ohio State, a home game against Penn State and the second annual Three Rivers Classic at CONSOL Energy Center (Boston College, Bowling Green, RMU and Penn State).

Of course, we know that we're getting two home and two away against each of the other five Big Tenners, a total of 20 games. The Three Rivers Classic has been public knowledge for quite some time. There will be single home games with Army (the PIA opener) and RIT, a home series with Union and one at Air Force (all of which make sense, as each reciprocates a piece of the 2012-2013 schedule). All in all, that's 29 games against the NCAA limit of 34, so we're fairly close to knowing all of the opponents, although exempt games - Canadian exhibitions, trips to Alaska or contests with the National Team Development Program to cite three common examples - probably will push our game total over 34.

Shane Conlan: Probably salty about the weekend's hockey scores.

Miller's OT-winner advances Fighting Falcons over Tomahawks
(nahl.com)

In a story that touches two favorite topics of TYT - future Nittany Lions and the Johnstown Tomahawks - incoming forward Rick DeRosa played a key role in ending the inaugural season of Central PA's NAHL entry in a winner-take-all first-round game three Sunday afternoon. The Tomahawks led DeRosa's Port Huron Fighting Falcons 3-1 with 7:01 left in regulation until the Aston, PA native deflected a power play shot home. He then assisted on a back-door play to tie the game with the Falcons just 35 seconds from elimination, allowing Ian Miller to pot the overtime winner. Port Huron will begin a North Division semifinal series against Soo on Friday.

The vanquished Tomahawks, who ended up with a 27-21-12 record and a fifth-place North Division finish, count PSU football legends Shane Conlan and Jack Ham as part of their ownership group.

Jensen has the ‘heart of a lion’
(redwingscentral.com)

Need a rooting interest for the Frozen Four? You could do a lot worse than St. Cloud State, which features Nate Jensen's cousin Nick, himself an outstanding defenseman. SCSU, as you should know by now, also had former Icers coach and new athletic operations special assistant Morris Kurtz as its athletic director for 27 years.

Of course, there's that whole NCHC thing, so if you go with Quinnipiac, Yale or UMass-Lowell (or all three, for that matter), I won't blame you.

Saad’s maturity growing fast with Hawks teammates
(Chicago Daily Herald)

Brother of George is having a Calder Trophy-worthy season with the Chicago Blackhawks and earned this fun feature that includes shoutouts to both big brother and Tommy Olczyk.

'Blame me,' Lucia tells fans upset with Gophers' early NCAA exit
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Time for the "troll the Big Ten" portion of the post. In an annual Minnesota tradition, Gopher fans are all whiny about a great season (a 26-9-5 record, a WCHA regular season co-championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in this case) and want coach Don Lucia fired. Because SURELY, if the flagship program in the State of Hockey wasn't run by a total idiot, nobody would ever... zzzzzz. Lucia, to his credit, is trying to go Mike Gundy and deflect the heat from the college kids. COME AFTER ME! I'M A MAN! I'M 40!



Bucky's no-shows: An end-of-season update on Badgers ticket usage
(The Capital Times)

Apparently nobody cares about Wisconsin hockey enough to show up anymore. While their announced crowds (tickets sold) averaged 9,521 for the season, and ultimately, that's what counts since it drives revenues...

Men's hockey (6,996)...posted the lowest average actual attendance figure [based on tickets scanned] for their sports in the seven years of data kept by the athletic department.

Ouch. The Nittany Lions' game in Madison on February 25th - PSU won that game, because yeah, I'm going to slide that in - was a primary culprit with an announced crowd of 9,078 but an actual crowd of 5,338. This data, by the way, was obtained through an open records request, since public universities that aren't Penn State have to comply with those.

Jets sign collegiate defenceman Jacob Trouba to contract
(The Globe and Mail)

Michigan blueliner Jacob Trouba went pro after a single season in Ann Arbor, declining to join a long list of star Wolverines players who have left college with a degree, like... ummmm... eh, nevermind.

@Billy_Downey
(Twitter)

Just to end this thing on a positive note...

Nice.

M: Penn State 3 vs. Oklahoma 0

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // USCHO recap

PennLive.com recap // GoPSUSports.com photo gallery

Penn State, in the final Ice Pavilion game ever for the Icers/NCAA men's team, rode a third-period surge aided significantly by a boarding major to Oklahoma's Nic Power, to a 3-0 victory over the Sooners. With the win, PSU improves to 18-15-0 in all games, while remaining 12-13-0 in NCAA games and 10-11-0 against NCAA Division I.

Here's the GoPSUSports.com recap - its incredible depth undoubtedly reflecting the respect the writer has for the tradition built at the closing venue prior to this season - followed by the live blog from the game.

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Jamie Hettema, the Nittany Lion, Joe Battista (out of frame in the first picture)...it doesn't get much more symmetrical than these photos, of the first and last ceremonial faceoffs in Ice Pavilion history. In a nice touch, Matt Glass - the first goal scorer at the rink - and John Dufford joined the latter version.

After two scoreless periods, the Penn State men's hockey team tallied three third-period goals as it garnered a 3-0 exhibition victory against the ACHA's Oklahoma Sooners in the team's final game at Greenberg Ice Pavilion. The Nittany Lions competed in front of a sellout crowd for the 14th time this season.

Freshman Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, B.C.) opened the scoring, while classmate Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and senior Michael Longo (Allison Park, Pa.) tallied a power-play goal each. Defenseman Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) collected two assists and freshman goaltender Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) turned aside 26 shots for the shutout.

Penn State outshot the Sooners, 51-26, and went 2-for-8 on the power play. Oklahoma went 0-for-4 on the man advantage, while goaltender Colin Fernandes made 48 saves.

After two scoreless periods, Loik tallied the game's first goal at 3:24 of the third. Varley sent a pass to Loik, who skated above the circles near the blue line before sending a shot through traffic for the marker.

Brooks doubled the advantage while the Sooners were defending a five-minute major. Sophomore forward Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) passed to Brooks, who went around the net before sliding a shot past the goal line. Freshman David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) also collected an assist on the play.

The Nittany Lions needed just 14 seconds to take a 3-0 lead. Freshman defenseman Joseph Lordo (St. Louis, Mo.) sent a pass to Varley at the blue line, where his shot was stopped by Fernandes. The rebound fell to the goaltender's feet, where Longo quickly knocked it in for the goal.

Penn State will conclude the 2012-13 season when it travels to Madison, Wis., for a two-game series against No. 18 Wisconsin Feb. 24-25. Opening faceoff Sunday, Feb. 24 is set at 8 p.m., while the game Monday, which will air on BTN, is set at 8:30 p.m.

M: Penn State 4 vs. Alabama-Huntsville 3

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UAHChargers.com recap

USCHO recap // PennLive.com recap // StateCollege.com recap

Penn State (16-15-0 in all games, 12-13-0 in NCAA games, 10-11-0 vs. NCAA DI) fought off a resilient Alabama-Huntsville (8-20-2 in all games, 3-19-1 in NCAA games, 1-18-1 vs. NCAA DI) to earn a sweep in the Independent League MegaBowl. Here's the GoPSUSports.com recap, followed by the live blog.

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With the score tied with less than five minutes remaining in the game, freshman defenseman Mark Yanis (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) blasted a slap shot to the back of the net to send the Penn State men's hockey team to a 4-3 victory against Alabama Huntsville at Greenberg Ice Pavilion Saturday night.

The Nittany Lions, who improved to 12-13-0 in front of a sellout crowd, secured their third straight win for the first time since a four-game winning streak Oct. 20-Nov. 3. Penn State, which also swept a weekend series for the first time this season, closed out Greenberg Ice Pavilion at 4-4-0 against NCAA competition.

Freshmen forwards Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska/1g, 1a) and David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.), who completed a five-point weekend with a goal and an assist, gave the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead midway through the second period before the Chargers tied the game with two markers, the latter coming 54 seconds into the third.

Freshman Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) put Penn State up, 3-2, and, after UAH's Brice Geoffrion evened the score, Yanis unleashed the game-winner with 4:27 left in regulation.

Junior Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who garnered a pair of assists, extended his team-leading point-scoring streak to eight games (6g, 6a), while sophomore Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) recorded a point in his fourth consecutive contest with a helper on Glen's power-play tally. Freshman Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) improved to 8-8-0 with 24 saves.

The Nittany Lions outshot Alabama Huntsville by a 36-27 margin and went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Chargers finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage, while Alabama Huntsville netminder John Griggs made 32 stops.

With 11:15 left in the first period, Bailey gave the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead. Holstrom sent a pass to defenseman Peter Sweetland (Newtown, Pa.) at the blue line, where he fed Bailey in the high slot. The Anchorage, Alaska, native then ripped a shot that pinged off the left post before hitting the back of the net.

Glen doubled the Penn State advantage at 10:45 of the second period. While on the power play, Bailey sent a pass to Glen at the bottom of the right circle, where he one-timed a blast past Griggs. Gardiner also collected an assist on the play.

At 17:34 of the frame, Lysaght made it a 2-1 game. Steven Koshey started the play in his defensive zone and fed Lysaght, who sent an outlet pass to Michael Webley through the neutral zone. Webley took the puck behind the cage before passing back to Lysaght in the right circle, where he wristed a shot for the goal.

Justin Cseter tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal 54 seconds into the third stanza. While on a 5-on-3 advantage, Cseter corralled the loose puck in front of the net and slipped it past Skoff.

With 12:37 left in the game, Brooks skated Penn State to a 3-2 advantage. After Glen's shot went wide, Brooks won the race to the loose puck and had his shot from below the goal line sneak past Griggs.

The Chargers tied the game once more at 12:20 of the frame when Anderson White connected with Geoffrion at the bottom of the right circle for the marker.

At 15:33, Yanis provded the heroics with his fourth tally of the season. Junior Justin Kirchhevel (Brookings, S.D.) moved the puck to Holstrom, who fed Yanis above the right circle. The blue liner's first attempt was blocked before firing a shot to the back of the net for the 4-3 final.

The Nittany Lions, who have two weekends left in the their inaugural NCAA season, will return to action Feb. 15-16 for a two-game exhibition series against the ACHA's Oklahoma Sooners.

2/8 Postgame: Gadowsky, Glen, Skoff, Kleinendorst

Comments from head coach Guy Gadowsky, freshman forward David Glen (on the left in the second video), freshman goaltender Matt Skoff (on the right in the second video), and Alabama-Huntsville head coach Kurt Kleinendorst following Penn State's 4-0 win over the Chargers on Friday night.

M: Penn State 4 vs. UAH 0

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UAHChargers.com recap

USCHO recap // PennLive.com recap // StateCollege.com recap

The Nittany Lion men improved to 15-15-0 in all games, 11-13-0 in NCAA games and 9-11-0 against NCAA DI with what, in hindsight, was quite a dominating win over Alabama-Huntsville in round one of the so-called Independent League MegaBowl - but one that still contained enough juice (mostly in the form of late chippiness) to set up an interesting match on Saturday. Here's the GoPSUSports.com recap, followed by the live blog.

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Freshman forward David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) notched the first hat trick in program history to lead the Penn State men's hockey team to a 4-0 victory against Alabama Huntsville at Greenberg Ice Pavilion Friday night. The Nittany Lions improved to 11-13-0 with the whitewash, while the Chargers fell to 3-18-1.

Freshman netminder Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) corralled 23 shots for his second shutout of the season, while sophomore forward Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) added a power-play marker. Freshman forward Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) collected a career-best two assists, and junior Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) extended his point-scoring streak to seven games with an assist on Glen's second goal.

After a scoreless first period, Glen opened the scoring just 1:41 into the second before Gardiner tallied for the first time since Oct. 27 with 4:29 left in the frame. The Nittany Lions added a pair of goals within a 3:30 span in the third period as they skated to the 4-0 lead. Glen added his second of the game at 11:20 of the period before completing the hat trick with 5:10 left in the game.

Penn State out shot the Chargers by a 43-23 margin and went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Alabama Huntsville finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Charger netminder John Griggs made 39 saves.

The two teams will conclude their weekend series Saturday, Feb. 9 with a 7:30 p.m. faceoff.

After a scoreless first period, Glen put Penn State on the board less than two minutes into the frame. Griggs stopped a dump-in behind the net, but Brooks won the battle to the puck and sent a diagonal pass from behind the goal line to Glen at the left circle, where he fired the puck past Griggs.

While on the power-play, Gardiner collected his third marker of the season at 15:31. From the left hash marks, Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) passed to Holstrom in the slot, where he one-touched it to Yanis at the point. The defenseman unleashed a slap shot that Gardiner redirected past Griggs from the top of the crease.

Glen gave the Nittany Lions a 3-0 advantage with 8:40 left in the third period. Brooks sent the puck to Peter Sweetland (Newtown, Pa.) at the blue line, where he fed Glen at the top of the left circle. With a defenseman draped over him, Glen roofed a turnaround shot for the goal.

With 5:10 left in the game, Glen added his third of the game and team-leading 15th goal of the season. Glen won the offensive zone faceoff back to junior Michael McDonagh (Winchester, Mass.), whose shot from the right circle was stopped by Griggs. Glen located the rebound and it slid it to the back of the net to account for the 4-0 final.

All Saints Day

According to Chris Heisenberg's recruiting list, Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL) defenseman Mike Williamson committed to Penn State on Monday.

Mike Williamson

Defenseman
Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
6'3", 210 pounds
Leduc, AB
DOB 9/5/1993

EliteProspects.com

Season	Team	Lge.	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM
2009-10	Leduc Oil Kings Midget AAA	AMHL	31	7	3	10	72
2009-10	Drayton Valley Thunder	AJHL	4	0	0	0	0
2010-11	Leduc Oil Kings Midget AAA	AMHL	32	6	13	19	70
2010-11	Spruce Grove Saints	AJHL	1	0	0	0	0
2011-12	Spruce Grove Saints	AJHL	41	9	9	18	73
2012-13	Spruce Grove Saints	AJHL	12	1	5	6	12

Williamson then verified the news via Twitter:

The Alberta native, of course, continues a pipeline to the Saints organization that includes current freshman David Glen - a hard-working center who is tied for the PSU lead with 12 goals - and 2013 recruit Dylan Richard. Williamson, Glen and Richard all played together on the 2011-2012 edition of the Saints, which finished the regular season 46-6-8 but were upended by Fort McMurray in the league semifinals. Spruce Grove, one of Canadian Jr. A hockey's powerhouse franchises won the 2011 AJHL title with Glen and Richard, although Williamson only played one regular season game on that team.

On last year's Saints, captained by Glen, the PSU freshman was tops on the team in assists (29) and second in points (50). Richard was third on the team in scoring, with 19 goals among his 41 points. And Williamson, one of the younger players on the team, added healthy totals from the back end as a 17-year-old. He seems to have that uncoachable clutch factor in his favor too - four of his nine goals were game winners, and he stepped up his production in the playoffs, with four goals in 11 games.

This season, with Glen now at Penn State ahead of the other two, the Saints are 28-13-6, a record deflated somewhat from the team's usual pace by the fact that both Richard and Williamson have battled injuries. Williamson's - called an upper-body injury officially - has limited the blueliner to 12 games and none since October 27th, although he's expected back in the lineup soon.

Williamson is certainly stout defensively, as one might expect from a quick glance at his height and weight. But videos of offensive upside are more fun (start at 50 seconds in, unless you want to see Glen assist on a goal too).



Another one? Sure. Williamson's goal play starts at 2:25 below, and once again shows that he's not afraid to get low in the zone if it's there for the taking.



There are interesting roster implications with Williamson's addition. He joins Dave Thompson and Pat Koudys as defensemen entering next season, along with forwards Richard, Zach Saar, David Goodwin and Eric Scheid, as well as goaltender Eamon McAdam. And don't forget about roster ghost Reed Linaker. Departures will number five forwards (Michael Longo, Dom Morrone, Eric Steinour, George Saad and Bryce Johnson, who transferred to Oklahoma earlier this month) and two defensemen (Rich O'Brien and Brian Dolan).

The forwards seem to be an even swap, five in and five out. But three defensemen incoming against two leaving and one goalie in with nobody leaving may bring cuts into play, especially in a reality where Title IX and budget constraints limit roster size. It may also be worth mentioning that scholarship money is likely to get much tighter in a hurry with a large chunk of the former Icers on the roster graduating.

Regardless of the final composition of next year's roster, it's sure to include - as Glen has already demonstrated - three easy-to-like Alberta boys with a winning pedigree.

M: Penn State 3 at Michigan State 5

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // MSUSpartans.com recap
Lansing State Journal recap // Centre Daily Times recap

Guy Gadowsky postgame video // CCHA highlights // MIHockeyNow.com recap

Once again, my sincerest apologies for cancelling the live blog for this game at the last second. Essentially, the story is that I wasn't 100 percent positive that it was going to be streamed via Michigan State's All-Access channel (video wasn't mentioned in MSU's pregame release). There was video as it turned out, but it didn't come on until literally about 10 seconds before puck drop - or five minutes after I decided to switch over to the women's game at Syracuse so as not to be caught empty handed on a full Friday night of hockey. I had to make a quick decision, and given my preference for the men's game this time around, hindsight says it was the wrong one. It happens.

I did manage to catch a good chunk of the men during the women's intermissions and following the conclusion of that game, including the final 10 minutes and the wild second period stretch that saw three goals scored in 1:34. So I don't think I'm completely blind when I say that the Nittany Lions (11-15-0 all games, 9-13-0 NCAA, 7-11-0 NCAA DI) played well enough to win, especially after a tenative first period. Had it not been for Connor Varley's checking from behind major on Anthony Hayes with 8:36 left in a tie game that led to Tanner Sorenson's game-winning one-timer, who knows what would have happened. The good news is that the typical college hockey weekend, and this is one of those, involves a rematch.

I'm going to break from my usual victor-spoils rules and use Stefan Kubus' recap from MIHockeyNow.com instead of the one from MSUSpartans.com, just because I thought Kubus did an exceptional job in describing things. It's still MSU-centric, so I'm counting it.

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A bounce-back game for Michigan State was just what the doctor ordered following their disappointing Tuesday night loss to the NTDP U-18 squad.

The Spartans defeated Penn State, 5-3, on goals by Mike Ferrantino (Plymouth), Kevin Walrod, Greg Wolfe (Canton) and a pair by Tanner Sorenson. Will Yanakeff (Jerome) made 27 saves in the win, as freshman Jake Hildebrand had the night off.

“Well, it’s nice to get a win; I thought the guys played real hard,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. “I thought Penn State competed real hard. It’s nice to see the puck go in the net a little bit… It was nice to get a positive result tonight.”

Ferrantino, a freshman forward, got things going in rather slick fashion for the Spartans. Following some great work along the boards in the Penn State zone by linemates Ryan Keller and Anthony Hayes, Ferrantino picked up a loose puck down low on the right side, made a move to the backhand, attacked the slot and put the puck past goaltender Matthew Skoff to make it 1-0 at the 12:42 mark.

“It seems like when we scored the first goal, we really got a boost from that, so it was really nice tonight to get the first one,” Ferrantino said of his goal. “It seemed to really energize us for the rest of the first period.”

Later, with 4:54 to go in the first frame, Penn State captain Tommy Olczyk – son of former NHL’er and current TV analyst Ed Olczyk – broke in on Yanakeff all alone only to get robbed.

The first period – a very strong one for the Green and White – ended with MSU up 1-0, holding a 12-7 shot advantage, as well.

The second period was a wild one for both sides, as five goals were scored, with three of them coming within three minutes of each other.

First, it was Michigan State, as sophomore defenseman RJ Boyd sprung Sorenson with a long stretch pass from blue line to blue line. Sorenson went in and fired a shot off the inside of the crossbar and down for a 2-0 lead 6:55 into the period.

“I was kind of cherry picking, slow to back check because they were all changing,” Sorenson said of his goal. “And then I cut through the middle and yelled, “Boyd,” and Boyd saw me, made a great play to me, and then I just kind of took off and had a breakaway. But no, that was a great play by Boyd.”

Just 1:30 after the Sorenson tally, Olczyk skated behind the MSU defense on the left side and, this time, he capitalized on his chance, pulling the Nittany Lions back within one on a shorthanded marker.

David Glen tucked home a rebound to tie the game at three in the second period.

The game calmed down for about six minutes until Taylor Holstrom broke in on Yanakeff off a pass from Max Gardiner and roofed a backhand past Skoff to make it a 2-2 game at the 14:38 mark.

Next in the parade, it was Walrod who scored a very similar goal to Olczyk’s, letting a far-side wrister go from the top of the right circle that beat Skoff over the blocker to regain the 3-2 lead for his Spartan squad.

And 14 seconds later, Penn State tied it up at three aside on a goal that freshman David Glen found in a crease scramble to tap in the gaping net.

That’s the way the game stood through 40 minutes, with MSU holding a slight, 23-20 shot advantage.

In the third, a huge Connor Varley hit on Hayes from behind resulted in an ejection and five-minute power play for the Spartans.

After some sharp puck movement in the Penn State zone, Walsh walked down the middle from the point, faked a shot and dished a short, nifty backhand pass to Sorenson who unleashed a snap shot from the inside top of the left circle to put MSU up 4-3 with five minutes to go in the game.

“We knew we had a long power play, so we had time to be calm and just work it,” Sorenson said of his second tally. “Wally made a good play to Walsh in the slot, then Walsh faked a shot and gave it to me. I knew I had to get it off quick because the goalie was down and it felt great.”

Wolfe capped things off with 15.9 seconds remaining in the game, depositing the puck into an empty net. Although it wasn’t quite the goal he had been looking to score lately, the MSU captain wasn’t complaining.

“For me, I guess it was more of a sense of relief,” Wolfe said of his empty-netter with a laugh. “Obviously, this year has been kind of up and down so everyone was just working it really hard. It was just a good team building; it just felt good all around. We’ve had so many disappointments lately, it was good to finally just break that streak and feel good for a change going into the locker room.”

The second game between the two schools is set for 6:05 p.m. Saturday evening again at Munn Ice Arena.

Notes: Attendance: 5,605… With David Bondra and Brent Darnell (upper-body) hurt, along with Matt Berry serving a DQ penalty, defenseman Nickolas Gatt saw time on forward for the first time ever in his playing career… In a nice touch, MSU dressed recently-retired defenseman Branden Carney as an honorary captain to sit on the bench with the team.

M: Penn State 4 vs. Vermont 2

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UVMathletics.com recap

PhillyBurbs.com recap // Burlington Free Press recap
UVMathletics.com highlights

In front of an electric sellout crowd of 19,529 at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center and a sizable television audience on The Comcast Network, Penn State notched yet another landmark win in its early NCAA history, 4-2 over Vermont (6-12-4, 3-8-4 Hockey East) Saturday night.

The Nittany Lions now have an official NCAA record of 9-12-0, while improving to 11-14-0 in all games and 7-10-0 against NCAA Division I teams. Notably, PSU is 2-2-0 against major-conference teams, losing twice at Union on November 24th and 25th before topping Ohio State and now UVM in NHL arenas.

That Matt Skoff was central to this victory should be of little surprise. Since a jittery first two collegiate starts, the McKees Rocks, PA native has been exactly as advertised: a steady, consistently excellent goaltender that gives a first-year NCAA program a chance in every game he plays. Against the Catamounts, Skoff saved 34 of 36, many in truly spectacular, game-altering fashion. UVM freshman forward Robert Polesello, in particular, was robbed several times on his six shots.

Still, offense is needed to win games, and Penn State received plenty of it, from most of the usual sources.

After a quick start to the game with a healthy share of chances each way, Taylor Holstrom dented the scoreboard first 3:11 in, when he took a feed from Connor Varley and streaked down the ice before finishing the play by wristing through Brody Hoffman's five hole.

Scoring first is always important, of course, but especially so in PSU's case. The Nittany Lions are now 6-1-0 when scoring the first goal of the game, versus 3-11-0 when allowing the first goal. A more unusual trend was continued as well: (probably) the team's three biggest wins this season - at RIT on October 20th, versus Ohio State in Pittsburgh on December 29th and against Vermont on Saturday night - have all come in front of five-figure crowds in professional arenas and immediately following extremely ugly losses. The UVM triumph followed Tuesday's overtime defeat to NCAA Division III Neumann at the Ice Pavilion, just as RIT followed a shutout at the hands of DIII Buffalo State and Ohio State followed a 6-0 clunker against Robert Morris.

Following Holstrom's goal, Penn State also scored second, and third, just to be safe. Late in the first period, David Glen put his team up 2-0 after Justin Kirchhevel made a spectacular back-to-the-play pass from behind the goalline to the slot for a hard-charging Glen. Kirchhevel, in his second game back from a concussion, did the honors himself on the 3-0 goal, a wraparound effort from Tommy Olczyk that needed a review to ensure that the South Dakotan was able to stuff the puck all the way past the red.



Polesello did win one battle against Skoff during the contest, when he finished a pretty lateral passing play with a one-timer from between the circles while George Saad occupied the penalty box for a high sticking infraction. Brett Bruneteau swung the puck cross ice to defenseman Nick Luukko, who found Polesello from Skoff's right. Despite that blemish, the Nittany Lions' penalty kill had a good night, going 5-for-6, notably including the survival of consecutive penalties to Brian Dolan and Glen bridging the first intermission and overlapping by 17 seconds.

The Catamounts would get no closer than 3-1. Penn State successfully attacked and protected its lead for much of the third period, then added to it with 4:42 left. Dolan - a native of nearby Havertown, PA who came to Happy Valley before the NCAA announcement - got a shot from right point on net. It was saved, as was Holstrom's follow-up attempt, but Casey Bailey buried the play's second rebound. That goal rendered Kyle Mountain's reply snipe with 11 seconds remaining meaningless.

Guy Gadowsky, who now has more wins in his first NCAA season at Penn State than he did in his first seasons at Alaska and Princeton, will next lead his team into East Lansing, MI for a pair of games against future Big Ten rival Michigan State January 25th and 26th.

Here's the live blog from the historic win - unfortunately, my participation over much of the first half of the game was rather spotty due to internet issues, but my sincerest thanks are due to the commenters who picked up the torch while I was out of commission.

M: Penn State 2 vs. Neumann (NCAA DIII) 3 (OT)

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // NeumannAthletics.com recap

Guy Gadowsky postgame video // Casey Bailey/David Glen postgame video

USCHO recap // StateCollege.com recap // GoPSUSports.com highlights

A confession: I broke my "don't get mad" rule with this one. Losing to a DIII team at home in a revenge situation? Yeah, I'm going to blow off the blog for the night after that, a 3-2 overtime defeat at the hands of the Neumann Knights that saw Penn State fall to 10-14-0 in all games and 8-12-0 against NCAA teams while staying 6-10-0 vs. NCAA DI.

Shots are nice. I realize that due to the 46-17 shot count, including 21-1 in the third period, history will probably remember this game as "PSU dominated, hot goalie, oh well," but that's an excuse. Even Guy Gadowsky seemed to know that after the game - here's what he said on giving up the first goal of the game just 20 seconds in.

“We were not ready. The hockey gods will never let you get away with that. It’s a mental toughness issue. We have to figure it out.”

It's a season-long problem that seems to always come up against lower-division teams: Buffalo State on October 19th and November 3rd, Arizona State on November 30th and December 1st and now Neumann on January 15th. Penn State actually came back to win two of those games, but lost the other three.

This game, as I'm sure you know by now, followed a familiar upset pattern: underdog gets a quick lead, a heavy barrage from the favorite gets them back in it, but ultimately, the underdog endures, makes the one crucial play and steals it.

Gadowsky emphasizes at every opportunity to not give too much concern to wins and losses. He's absolutely right about that, it shouldn't be the point right now, but it's awfully hard to avoid as the only easy way to measure progress without actually being in the room. So, for most of us, something like 3-3-0 against NCAA Division III and ACHA Division 1 is a little alarming. The team now cannot finish better than 7-3-0 in ten games I think most had penciled as easy wins coming into the season, or 2-2-0 against NCAA DIII and 5-1-0 against ACHA D1.

Just as a point of comparison, the Icers were 1-1-0 against NCAA DIII (with both opponents also on this year's schedule) and 28-3-1 against ACHA D1 last year. Aren't we supposed to be better now?

The highs - Ohio State, RIT, Air Force - have been incredible. But this flip side is also going to be part of the story of this inaugural NCAA season.

The good news? This probably means the Nittany Lions will play well on Saturday against Vermont.

Okay, that's enough from me. Here's the Neumann recap, with the PSU "highlights" embedded to show the Casey Bailey and David Glen goals that don't get tremendous run from the NU people.

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Jon Low scored with 53 seconds left in the overtime session as the Neumann University men's hockey team defeated Division I Penn State University 3-2 on Tuesday evening.

Low netted the goal off a face-off in the Nitany Lions end of the ice. Casey Rogers and Aaron Keaney drew the assists.

Ben Curley made 44 saves in the game. Neumann was outshot 46-17 for the game.

Chris Bournazos kept up his high level of playing with a goal just 20 seconds into the game to give the Knights an early lead and a jump to start the game. Jordan Zalba and Craig Cowie drew the assists. The Knights killed off a 5-on-3 in the period and took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.



The Knights took a 2-0 lead 4:45 into the second period as D'Lane Sather scored after a misplay by the Nitany Lions in their own end. Keaney and Low picked up the assists. Penn State capitalized on the only power play of the period to cut Neumann's lead to 2-1. With five minutes left in the period, the Nitany Lions scored again to tie the game at two. The teams went into the locker rooms with the tied score.

Neither team could score in the third period, despite Penn State having 21 shots on goal. Curley made some outstanding saves to keep the game tied and send it into overtime.

“Ben's play was phenomenal tonight, especially in the third period”, said head coach Dominick Dawes.

Neumann (10-4-2) will put its six game winning streak on the line as it gets back into conference action on Friday when it hosts Manhattanville. The puck is set to drop at 7:00 PM.

M: Penn State 3 at Connecticut 4

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UConnHuskies.com recap

UConn assistant coach David Berard postgame

In a back-and-forth game that saw ties 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3, Connecticut's Patrick Kirtland got the last word in a 4-3 victory over Penn State despite a 42-21 shot advantage for PSU. The Nittany Lions are now 9-11-0 in all games, 8-10-0 in NCAA games and 6-9-0 against NCAA Division I, with a shot at redemption against the Huskies (6-8-2, 4-6-1 Atlantic Hockey) coming Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.

True to the victor-spoils rules for games I did not witness, here's the UConn recap.

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Behind a career-high 39 saves from Matt Grogan and a game-winning goal by freshman Patrick Kirtland, the UConn men's hockey team defeated Penn State in Storrs, 4-3. The Huskies improved to 6-8-2. The two teams face off again on Saturday at Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs at 7:05 p.m.

Tonight's game featured two of the top rising programs in NCAA hockey. 2012-13 is Penn States inaugural season as a Division I program and the Nittany Lions will join the newly formed BIG Ten Conference in 2013-14. The Huskies will be a fully funded program and join Hockey East, the nation's premier hockey conference, in 2014-15.

A back-and-forth hockey game saw UConn with leads of 1-0 and 3-2 before pulling out the thrilling 4-3 victory in front of the home fans. The Huskies were outshot 42-21 but kept many of the attempts from distance. The UConn skaters blocked 24 shots on the night.

"That's the team we need to be. We have to be willing to sacrifice to get a win," said Assistant Coach David Berard. "We had some good goals but struggled to get going offensively. The guys have to be willing to lay out and sacrifice sometimes to get a win in a game like this and that's exactly what they did. The coaches were really proud of the effort they gave in that regard."

Senior goaltender Matt Grogan earned his third consecutive start and made a career-high 39 saves, including 15 in the third period.

"They have some big guys in front of the net so it was tough to fight through screens but we did a good job in front and I was able to make some saves," said Grogan.

Kirtland scored the game-winning goal with a turn-around wrist shot at the near post just under the cross bar.

"Originally I was looking for the pass but I just turned around and shot it and it went in," said Kirtland. "I was looking for Smitty (Brad Smith) at first. I've been getting harped on this year to shoot the puck more and I just shot it and it went in. I love these types of up and down games. That's my style, that's how I've always played."

"We expect him to be power forward, drive the net, possess the puck, finish checks and just be a physical presence and he did that tonight," said Berard. "He's done it in stretches the first half but he's been a bit inconsistent. Tonight he scored his goal because he played that way. If he continues to do those little things, he'll be a really important player for us."

UConn opened the scoring just 28 seconds into the game with Jordan Sims wristing a shot into the top-left corner from the slot off a feed from Sean Ambrosie behind the net. Brant Harris started the play along the left wall. The goal was Sims' fourth of the year.

The Nittany Lions evened the score at 5:55 with David Glen tipping a shot in the slot past Grogan on the power play. Luke Juha fired the puck from the right point after a face-off win by Glen. The goal was Glen's ninth of the year.

Penn State took the lead for the first and last time at 2:39 when Taylor Holstrom, a transfer from AHA foe Mercyhurst, had a shot from the left side ricochet off a UConn defenseman and in.

The Huskies regained a 3-2 lead with two goals in a 1:07 span. Brant Harris sent a shot from the left wall towards net that bounced off the skate of a PSU defenseman and past netminder Matthew Skoff.

At 9:29, freshman Shawn Pauly outraced his defender down ice to bury a rebound in front off a shot from Evan Carriere. The goal was Pauly's first as a UConn Husky.

Penn State's Connor Varley evened at 13:46 through traffic with a shot from the right side. After two periods, the score was tied, 3-3, with Penn State ahead on shots 27-17.

Kirtland's game-winning goal was his second tally of the season. Kirtland collected a loose puck on the inside of the right face-off circle at 6:27 and snapped a shot under the cross bar to give UConn the victory.