Three Stars: May 27-June 2

3. Intelligencer ice hockey player of the year: Caleb Witzaney, North Penn
(phillyburbs.com)

Caleb Witzaney: okay at hockey. As a senior at North Penn, he had 35 goals and 33 assists in 25 games and led his team to the Flyers Cup (eastern Pennsylvania championship) semifinals, even though he spent some time on defense in addition to left wing. And he might be an Ice Lion next season.

Witzaney is headed to Penn State but he’s not planning on being part of the Nittany Lions’ varsity program, which will complete its transition to the Division I level next season. He’s content to try out for the school’s club team while studying engineering.

“I decided to focus mainly on school,” he said. “If you want to go the D-I route you probably have to play with a decent junior team for a couple years. I would much rather go to college right away. Taking a couple years off from school is kind of a big deal and I don’t know if I would like that.”

2. School-Record 296 Penn State Student-Athletes Earn Academic All-Big Ten Honors in 2012-13
(gopsusports.com)

Of Penn State's incredible haul of Academic All-Big Ten selections, 14 came from hockey, including Jake Friedman, Michael Longo, Mike McDonagh, Dom Morrone, Rich O'Brien, Tommy Olczyk, George Saad and Eric Steinour from the men's team and Kate Christoffersen, Jess Desorcie, Taylor Gross, Cara Mendelson, Lindsay Reihl and Tess Weaver from the women's team. Olczyk is especially notable from that group, as he carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

It's worth pointing out that freshmen are not eligible for the honor - selections must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year and with at least a 3.0 cumulative average. In light of those criteria and the large number of first-years on both teams in 2012-2013, the hockey teams' achievements are particularly impressive. In all, eight of 16 possible men were picked, along with six of ten on the women's side.

1. Help Restore Moore
(helprestoremoore.com)

Former Lady Icers forward and alternate captain Dana Heller, who earned her graphic design degree from PSU last month, has decided to put her abilities to work helping out the people of Moore, OK. Moore, of course, was the site of a devastating tornado on May 20th that killed 24 people, injured 377 others, and destroyed or damaged between 12,000 and 13,000 homes with total cost estimates hovering around $2 billion.

The concept behind Help Restore Moore is brilliant in its simplicity. Heller, whose design is shown above and contains a deft nod to the alma mater, and other graphically-inclined people have created 20" x 16" posters (vertically oriented, contrary to what is shown - I took some license to make it fit TYT's format) in support of the people of Moore, and they're on sale for $25 (printed copy) or $15 (digital download), with proceeds going to the American Red Cross' Central and Western Oklahoma region.

If you're better at graphic design than me, please accept my jealousy-tinged congratulations, then get to work on creating and submitting your own poster. If not, go buy one. Now. I'll still be here when you get back, I promise.

Best of the Rest

The Ice Lions will attempt to capture the venerable Crab Pot in February

2013-2014 Schedule
(navyhockey.net)

If Witzaney does in fact join the Ice Lions, he'll have the chance to compete in one of non-varsity hockey's great traditions as a freshman: Navy's Crab Pot Invitational, which will take place for the 36th time on February 7th and 8th, 2014. PSU will open up with Towson, a D1 team and formerly a frequent opponent of the Icers, with the D1 Midshipmen and D2 Maryland in the other pairing.

Speaking of the Icers, they were a regular guest in Annapolis for the Crab Pot during the 1980s and won four titles (1982, 1985, 1986 and 1987) in seven appearances.

Lewington stands out in Combine fitness results
(nhl.com)

At the NHL Combine fitness testing on Friday and Saturday, Eamon McAdam tied for the best Vertec vertical jump with pause, 28.5 inches. And although it's not listed at the link, it's been verified through multiple sources (including a different post from the same author on NHL.com) that his wingspan was measured at 80.5 inches, tied for third best.

Keep in mind that we're talking about arguably the 101 best prospects for the NHL Entry Draft coming up in just under four weeks, so being at or near the top of anything... well, that's pretty damn good.

Outdoor Hockey at Penn State?
(WTAJ)

Someone asked Bill O'Brien about a hockey game at Beaver Stadium and he said he is in favor of it. Haven't we done this a time or 20 already?

Ryan Brown and Johns Hopkins' legendary lacrosse program with battle Maryland as a Big Ten rival

Johns Hopkins lacrosse program to join Big Ten
(Baltimore Sun)

By the time you read this, one of the nation's best academic institutions and lacrosse schools may have already announced that it will be joining the Big Ten as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse, as Johns Hopkins University has scheduled said announcement for 11:00 a.m. on Monday. Additionally, the Big Ten will now sponsor lacrosse for the first time, as JHU joins Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and all-sports newcomers Maryland and Rutgers to give the league the magic number of six schools. It's an interesting move to me because it's long been assumed that the Big Ten was unwilling to take on new affiliate members, institutions only in the conference for one sport (the University of Chicago has long been in only for academics purposes, as most know, owing to the fact that it was a founding Big Ten member, but withdrew its sports teams in 1946). So what's to stop it from happening in other cases?

Johns Hopkins, it needs to be said, is a perfect excuse to make an exception: the school is a research powerhouse, a titan in the lacrosse world, and Division III in all other sports. It's not terribly likely that another close-to-perfect fit is floating out there. But the simple fact is that the line has been crossed. There is no shortage of lower-division schools playing up in hockey, and while none offer JHU's impressive athletic and academic resume, what if there's a revenue opportunity in a new market through Big Ten Network and the ability to back-door elevated cable rates through an affiliate member?

To be perfectly honest, I don't believe any affiliate members will come on board for men's hockey. In this case, JHU allowing the Big Ten to sponsor men's lacrosse was as essential of a consideration as the school's appeal as a member, and it's already there with men's hockey. But what about women's hockey, assuming that none of ten Big Ten schools without it are about to add it and assuming that the Big Ten wants it under the umbrella?

Expect Delays on University Drive for Entire Month of June
(statecollege.com)

There's not a ton of competition for the least significant thing I've ever linked here (IT ALL MATTERS!), but... one southbound lane of University Drive will be blocked off for the month of June while they install the curb and sidewalk in front of Pegula Ice Arena. Heeeey that means it's almost done!

Referee Walkom assigned to conference finals
(NBC Sports)

Stephen Walkom, the father of women's team blueliner Stephanie Walkom, became one of the eight NHL referees selected to work the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last Thursday. Officials, as most people (I think) know, advance from round to round in the playoffs based on performance with work in the finals considered the pinnacle of the profession. Walkom, who served as the league's director of officiating from 2005 until 2009, has refereed four Stanley Cup Finals in all, including recently in 2010 and 2011 when two teams still alive this year - Chicago and Boston, respectively - hoisted the Cup.

His assignment to the conference finals made headlines because of his involvement in a controversial call during the deciding seventh game of the Red Wings-Blackhawks Western Conference semifinal series Wednesday night. Late in the third period, Walkom called Chicago's Brandon Saad (George's brother, of course, if you needed another PSU family connection in the story) and Detroit's Kyle Quincey for matching roughing minors behind the play, and his whistle negated a tie-breaking goal by the Hawks' Niklas Hjalmarsson moments later. Hjalmarsson's team went on to win early in overtime, so even if it was a bad call, no harm was ultimately done.

But for the record, I actually think Walkom got it right, and evidently I'm not the only one. Although I'm sure noted Blackhawks fanboy/Penn State hater/guy who gets entirely too much credit for making obvious statements Chris Peters disagrees.

@CoachBrandwene
(Twitter)

Last week was Josh Brandwene's turn to come up trumps with a couple of insider Pegula Ice Arena photos - a locker room (above) and the view from the home bench (below).

2012-2013 ACHA Mens' Division 1 All-American Teams
(achahockey.org)

Congratulations are in order to Arizona State forwards Kale Dolinski (first team) and Colin Hekle (second team), defenseman Ryan Clark (third team) and goaltender Joe D'Elia (third team) as well as to Ohio forwards Tyler Pilmore (first team) and Brett Agnew (third team) and defenseman J.C. Gulch (second team), the Nittany Lions' ACHA opponents from 2012-2013 who received All-American recognition.

Dolinski and Pilmore were both finalists for the ACHA's Player of the Year award as well, but Minot State goaltender Wyatt Waselenchuk took the prize after leading the Beavers to the program's first national championship in March.

Zach Stepan Switches Commitment from Ohio State to Minnesota State
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Zach Stepan, who played with McAdam on the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks this past season, has received a release from his National Letter of Intent with Ohio State and will now play closer to home at Minnesota State. Stepan, a cousin of New York Ranger/Wisconsin alumnus Derek Stepan, was a fourth-round pick of the Nashville Predators in 2012 and subsequently the USHL's third-leading scorer in 2012-2013. He was generally, and for good reason, considered OSU's best incoming freshman.

Basically, ooooh... sorry about your luck, Buckeyes.

UAA ousts athletic director Cobb
(Anchorage Daily News)

In this week's edition of "point and laugh at Alaska-Anchorage," athletic director Steve Cobb, who came under a bizarre amount of criticism from just about every corner imaginable over the last couple months, has been fired after 13 years.

"It has become clear in recent days that despite his efforts, Steve will not be able to bring all elements of the public together in support of UAA, and that criticism of Steve has become a distraction from the great work that UAA does every day," [UAA chancellor Tom] Case said.

The move came one day after a letter from Gov. Sean Parnell to University of Alaska president Patrick Gamble was made public. In the letter, Parnell demanded that Gamble "take a stand" on athletic department issues.

Yep, their governor got involved in an athletic department personnel matter... he must have called up Tom Corbett for advice. Cobb, as you might imagine, isn't happy.

In a blistering statement given to the Daily News, Cobb said Gamble didn't speak to him or anyone in the athletic department before the university's decision to fire him. He also took aim at Ashley Reed, a lobbyist who was among those who encouraged Parnell to get involved.

"Patrick Gamble may be mentally ill," Cobb said in the statement, "when you give away the university to Ashley Reed and a few local scoundrels, you are by definition insane and I intend to prove it in court.

"Gamble made the decision to fire me without speaking to one employee of the UAA Athletic Department, not one staff member, not one coach, not one student-athlete and certainly not me. Apparently Ashley Reed is the final authority.

"I am suffering secondary embarrassment for the university that I loved and devoted almost thirteen years of my life."

Yep, Cobb described University of Alaska president Patrick Gamble as "[possibly] mentally ill." Be right back, my popcorn sounds like it's done.

I ran down this entire festering mess in the Three Stars post from two weeks ago (last entry) if you're unfamiliar. But just to reiterate the basics, the situation began with the firing of eight-year head coach Dave Shyiak in March. Cobb subsequently delivered a list of four finalists to fill the vacancy, before a couple of concerned groups (the Alaska State Hockey Association and the UAA hockey alumni) fired off votes of no confidence in Cobb, as they were worried generally about the state of Seawolves hockey and specifically about their lack of say in the coaching search. The process was then reset with a new, more inclusive search committee. Even with Cobb's firing, UAA expects to have a new coach within a couple weeks (although it's fair to wonder what kind of idiot would walk into this situation and without even knowing the identity of their direct superior). Complicating matters has been the recent accusation of former player Mickey Spencer, who claims that Shyiak swung a stick at Nick Haddad, another former player, during a January, 2011 practice.



Jim Scherr Accepts COO Position with European Games
(nchchockey.com)

In this week's edition of "point and laugh at the NCHC," the one-time "superleague," set to officially begin play in 2013-2014, will now be looking for its second commissioner before a single game occurs. Jim Scherr, hired as the NCHC boss in January 2012, resigned on Friday to take a position as COO of the inaugural European Games (basically a mini-Olympics just for Europe, beginning in 2015 and held every four years after that). News that Scherr was offered the European Games post broke a couple weeks ago.

I love this quote from the NCHC's press release:

“We knew when we hired Jim that there would come a time when there would be competing bids for his services,” said NCHC Chairman of the Board and University of North Dakota Director of Athletics Brian Faison. “We are grateful for what Jim has done in his time with the NCHC and we are very happy that he has the opportunity to return to the Olympic sports world with the European Games in Baku. We know his expertise will greatly benefit their event.”

You knew that there would come a time? Did you know it that would be before the pucks printed with your logo shipped?

Watching a bunch of eighth-rate athletic departments scramble trying to pull double duty and run a big-time conference on a time-share basis sure is fun. If the Big Ten takes hockey seriously - and all indications are that it will - the NCHC is pretty terribly out of its depth in trying to compete. That's not to say that the NCHC's programs won't be successful on the ice, obviously Denver, North Dakota, Miami, etc. will continue among the top programs in the country. But from a business/front office perspective, they're completely outclassed.

Kleinendorst Steps Down as Head Hockey Coach
(uahchargers.com)

Alabama-Huntsville head coach Kurt Kleinendorst leaving his job is pretty tame if comparing it to those last two entries. But leave he did after a single season, citing a desire to get back into the pro game, where he's spent nearly his entire career. He's been praised for departing without an offer in hand, allowing UAH added time to find a replacement, and rightly so.

But the whole thing still rubs me the wrong way. While the Chargers' survival, at least in the short term, seems ensured through their escaping the independent wasteland by being admitted to the WCHA for the coming year, the mission is hardly accomplished. We're still talking about a 3-21-1 team, and while UAH now has the stability of a conference, the program still reeks of instability thanks to what will now be four different head coaches in the seven seasons since the retirement of the legendary Doug Ross. Kleinendorst owed a bit more than he gave in my opinion, especially since - unlike with his immediate predecessors - there was no longer reason to fear the chopping of the team and sudden unemployment.

@AndyJohnsonB5Q
(Twitter)

Here's a late-night musing from Wisconsin blogger Andy Johnson, possibly known to you as the guy who dropped "welcome to the big-time college hockey, Penn State" after the Badgers' 5-0 win over PSU on February 24th. Johnson's error then, as evidenced by the next night's result, was forgetting that the two games of a series often look very different from one another (he also forgot that the Nittany Lions had already been duly welcomed to the big time college hockey by Union, Ohio State, Vermont and Michigan State, but whatever). Anyway...

Now, I'm new here, but I thought you big-time programs that pump a busload of early-departure players into the show every year were used to those types of situations. Guess not.

Still, it could be worse - you could have 10 true freshmen and 12 others playing their first season of NCAA hockey, with the entire team carrying a combined 97 games of NCAA experience from four players prior to the season at hand. Even that situation is hardly a death sentence though...

Reihl to Return in 2013-14

The women's team will hold a Senior Day ceremony on Saturday before its game against Lindenwood, but will only honor half of its senior class, forward Kate Christoffersen.

It's not an oversight. TYT has learned that this season's other senior - defender Lindsay Reihl - will continue with the Nittany Lions in 2013-2014 as she pursues graduate studies in kinesiology.

In bringing Reihl back, Penn State is taking advantage of NCAA Bylaw 14.2.1, which states that student-athletes have five years from the time they first register for classes to complete their four years of NCAA eligibility. Reihl, of course, started her five-year clock in 2009, giving her through the end of next year to get four NCAA seasons in. While the Connecticut native played for the ACHA Division 1 Lady Icers from 2009 through 2012, those campaigns don't count against her NCAA eligibility - essentially, in the NCAA's eyes, she'll be a sophomore next season, but one whose eligibility will expire before becoming a "junior" due to the five-year rule.

It's really quite a story if you think about it: while Reihl is one of ten players on the inaugural NCAA women's and men's teams who came to Penn State before September 17, 2010, the date of the Terry Pegula donation announcement, she will likely be one of just two who preceded elevation and will get to play in the Pegula Ice Arena (men's forward Michael McDonagh, a junior this year, is the other).

This move is just the latest piece of evidence proving Reihl's value. This season, she is one of just nine players to dress for each of PSU's 27 games, and she collected an assist in a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart on October 20th. Reihl has been one of the Nittany Lions' sturdiest blueliners this season, and the A on her sweater nicely reflects her status as a team leader on an extremely young squad. As a Lady Icer, she was named the team's defensive player of the year in each of her three seasons, and helped Penn State to the 2010 ACHA national championship tournament as a freshman. She was also a member of Team USA for the 2011 World University Games - the first women's team sent to the event by USA Hockey - helping the squad to a fourth-place finish in Erzurum, Turkey.

As things stand now, and barring any cuts, the women's team roster will grow to 30 next year (18 forwards, 9 defenders, 3 goaltenders). That unusually large size for a women's team, bolstered by the retention of Reihl, offers some Title IX flexibility to the men, who - again, without cutting anyone - are at 29 (16 forwards, 9 defensemen, 4 goaltenders).

Three Stars: November 26-December 2

3. Penn State at Mercyhurst // Exhibition Game
(collegehockeystats.net)

Something I learned this past weekend: the first game in the history of Mercyhurst women's hockey was played against the Lady Icers on October 9, 1999. Unfortunately, I think the Collegian passed on covering it to run one of 38,000 PSU-Iowa football articles that week (fall break didn't help either), so this box score might be the only online trace of it. That's just as well - it wasn't really a pretty result for us.

By the way, that's two consecutive women's opponents mentioning their history with the Lady Icers in their game notes, if you're scoring at home. Just saying.

2. Ice Hockey Recap: The First Ranked Opponent
(Black Shoe Diaries)

Penn State Hockey: Weekend Roundup #4
(Victory Bell Rings)

Because of the out-of-sync timing between my posts and theirs, I never get enough of a chance to toss some love to the other great PSU hockey bloggers out there, including IcersGuy and Mary Clarke of BSD and VBR, respectively. Because of the aforementioned timing issue (their recaps go up later in the week), these posts are actually their thoughts on the Nittany Lions' weekend at then-No. 8 Union November 24th and 25th. Know what though? That one was better anyway.

Get to know their stuff, and follow them on Twitter too (@hey_pono for IcersGuy, @marycclarke for Mary Clarke). Because you're not a fully-informed fan if you're only listening to one voice.

1. Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff Promo
(YouTube)

Yep, it's a commercial for Penn State's game with Vermont in Philly on January 19th. Cheeseball? Sure. But in a fun way. And the Nittany Lion does the ear thing he does right at the end, so it's all good.

Best of the Rest

Welsh Signs with the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL
(The Hockey Writers)

Even though he didn't move directly from Penn State's commit list to major junior, I suppose Thomas Welsh can be considered our first CHL defection. I've largely gotten over his decommitment after he wasn't able to "come to terms" (his awkward choice of words that may or may not indicate that he wasn't looking at PSU for the 'right' reasons) with the school. I fully expect this to be the last time I ever mention him now that he's officially gone for good. However, because Welsh's relatives continue to email me articles, as if I have any interest whatsoever in promoting him at this point...

...here's a photo of Welsh getting scored on by Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge last month. I'm not sure which of the nine goals scored by Eamon McAdam's teammates in the game is represented here, sorry.

Sooners face big second half of the season
(Hockey in the Heartland)

Now that the ACHA has our attention, here's how future opponent Oklahoma (February 15th and 16th) is looking for the spring semester. The Sooners' trip to the Ice Pavilion will actually be their second NCAA DI series of the season, as they play Alabama-Huntsville on January 11th and 12th. So basically, the Icers could never get any DI games, and as soon as they depart the ACHA, teams start getting four per season.

David Glen records a hat trick in Penn State's big win Friday night but Joe D'Elia and ASU get revenge on Saturday
(Stack the Pads)

Remember when PSU was unbeaten against the ACHA as an NCAA program? Those were good times. StP has some evidence in support of that, including video of four of the Nittany Lions' eight goals Friday night.

Women's Ice Hockey Signs Seven to Letters of Intent
(quinnipiacbobcats.com)

Former PSU women's target Mika Nervick, a Minnesota high schooler - man, do we hit Minnesota hard on the women's side - signed with Quinnipiac.

Allentown Arena - yeah, that name will stick here in the 21st century - will host the AHL in 2014.

Ground breaks on new Allentown arena, expected to be Phantoms home in 2014
(Broad Street Hockey)

Yay, Pennsylvania hockey!

I do have to say that it's a great testament to the hockey fans of Glens Falls, NY that the team draws more than six people per game (3,514 so far this year, well below the AHL average of 5,313), given that they've basically been used as a place to stash the team for five years while this project gets done.

HockeyTown: Princeton, New Jersey
(New York Hockey Journal)

Guy Gadowsky is quoted heavily in this article, mostly dealing with the development of minor hockey in his former location. Undoubtedly, he's trying to build the same sort of depth of organization in Central PA.

Picture Gary Bettman on the couch of a fighter/shrink...
(Toronto Globe and Mail)

Speaking of Princeton-era Gadowsky, here's a great feature on Kings enforcer Kevin Westgarth, one of the players he coached at PU. It's so bizarre to me that between Westgarth and George Parros (who was a Tiger pre-Gadowsky), Princeton generates not only a couple of the NHL's most intelligent players, but guys who also happen to be able to throw hands.

Bockmann's overtime-winner hands league-leader first loss
(uwsp.edu)

Former Icer Josh Daley and his teammates at UW-Stevens Point took down UW-Eau Claire, the third-ranked team in NCAA Division III, in overtime Saturday night. The Pointers are 5-5-1 so far, with Daley playing in five of those games and posting an assist.

Lebanon Valley College Moving to ESCHL IN 2013-2014
(achahockey.org)

Next season, the Icers' old conference will feature Delaware, Rhode Island, Rutgers, Stony Brook, West Chester, and now LVC. It's great to see the league develop a little bit of depth after PSU's final ESCHL season (2010-2011) saw only UD and URI join the Icers as solid programs, with complete wastes of ACHA D1 status Robert Morris and WCU holding down the other two spots (but not doing much else of value).

Breakout Past: Lady Icers Take Third Place

Katie King (12) was a second-team All-American in 2001-2002.

The Lady Icers never won an ACHA national championship in their six tournament appearances, but they came pretty close at the 2002 edition, held in Alpharetta, GA from March 1st through 3rd.

At just the second-ever championship for the ACHA's then-new women's division, PSU redeemed their eighth-place (out of eight) finish in the 2001 tournament with a best-ever run to third, capped by a 4-2 win over Boston University in the consolation game.

"We've never beat them before," sophomore Alex McVicker said. "Before the game they were being cocky saying how we never beat them."

Penn State dominated Boston the entire match. The high powered offense of the first line produced all scores as McVicker and [Andrea] Lavelle both put in a pair. The victory not only allowed Penn State to finish the season on a high note, but it gave the club one of it's most monumental victories ever.

A 3-1 loss to eventual national champion Wisconsin (which beat defending champ St. Cloud State in overtime in the final) in the last game of the group round robin relegated the Lady Icers to that third place game, but that disappointment was preceded by a 3-1 victory over Bates College and a 5-0 blowout of Michigan State. Lavelle, McVicker and Steph Feyock scored in the win over the Bobcats.

The BU triumph, though, was particularly noteworthy due to the fact that the Terriers were well on their way to adding women's hockey as an NCAA sport opposite their legendary men's program. Four seasons later, in 2005-2006, BU would be playing in Hockey East and featuring a freshman forward named Gina Kearns (who, of course, would go on to become the program's all-time scorer en route to her present position as a PSU assistant).

Andrea Lavelle, who was also a scholarship athlete on the women's
 golf team, is arguably the best player in Lady Icers history.

While her team may have finished third best, individually Lavelle proved worthy of a much higher grade. PSU's leading scorer (she finished with an insane 76 goals and 114 points in 24 games) took home the tournament MVP trophy, and later added the ACHA Women's Division Player of the Year award to her list of accolades. Freshman forward Katie King was a second-team All-American on the back of her 84 points and defender Feyock was an honorable mention. Lavelle would go on to play professionally for the Beatrice Aeros of the defunct National Women's Hockey League.

The 3-1-0 showing at nationals capped off a 22-7-1 season that wasn't short on highlight wins. On February 9th, they bombed NCAA Division III Chatham to the tune of 7-1.

"We pumped ourselves up because we were playing Div. III, not just another college club team," defender Becky Holmes said.

"Once we were out on the ice and we saw that we could meet and even surpass their skills as a hockey team, we just played our game."

The Lady Icers showed Chatham up for three periods of play when they outworked the Cougars in their own backyard. Andrea Lavelle added four goals to continue her torrid pace while King, as well as sophomores Faryn Shapiro and Alex McVicker, each added scores to help give Penn State a 7-1 triumph.

"We played pretty well and wore them down," King said. "We do have some players who could be playing at the varsity level too and we just wanted to show them that."

Earlier in the month, they dealt with three tough senior teams in Erie to go 2-1-0 at the Valentine Tournament. Lavelle had hat tricks in both of PSU's wins, while King added a pair in an opening win over the Syracuse Warriors. Undoubtedly, the Lady Icers' ownership of archrival Buffalo was particularly satisfying for the team, as Penn State survived "you're a man" taunts from the UB fans and public address announcer (!) during 10-2, 6-0 sweep in January. That was preceded by a 6-0 home win in December that ended like this:

Directly after the game came to a close, the much anticipated brawl finally went down after a Buffalo player knocked the stick out of freshman Kate Connolly's hands and checked her in the back of the head. Connolly proceeded to go after the Freeze player, prompting a bench-clearing brawl that brought a thunder of excitement into the Greenberg Sports Complex.

Jen McDevitt (9) had an awkward number for a goalie, but for good reason, as she was playing out of position to become one of the unsung heros of 2001-2002. Other notables in this team huddle include Alex McVicker (23, first player from the left) and Lavelle (11, second player from the right).

One interesting story from the sixth Lady Icers season was junior captain Jen McDevitt. In a plot duplicated more recently by Carly Szyszko and Julie Horn filling in for World University Games participants Heather Rossi and Katie Vaughan on the 2010-2011 Lady Icers, the defender put on goalie pads for the first time in filling in for the injured Jess Gurskey, who was out with a herniated disc for much of the season starting with the brawl game against Buffalo. It wasn't an unsuccessful run either, as McDevitt registered four regular season shutouts as part of a 10-3-1 record. Even after it was over though, she still felt short on respect.

"There are still a lot of people who don't take what we do seriously," [she] said. "One of those 'people' is probably the University itself."

The recognition may be ten years late, but hopefully McDevitt sees this wherever she is now. Job well done.

Three Stars: May 2-8

Zach Hyman can apparently walk through walls.

3. Sweetland lands at PSU
(Lions 247)

Based on the response to some of these pieces on the Lions 247 message boards, it seems like the crossover between our two readerships is a little like the crossover between India and Lichtenstein (I'm Lichtenstein if that wasn't obvious). But regardless, you need to be reading Andrew Dzurita's stuff on our recruits. For your convenience, I've now linked them on the TYT recruiting class page where available.

2. 2011 Women's Division 1 Awards
(ACHAHockey.org)

My sincerest apologies for missing on this one last month. Three Lady Icers - Sara Chroman, Carly Szyszko and Kirsten Evans - were given All-American honorable mention recognition by the ACHA. You may recall that Szyszko is not a goalie but played there anyway, while regular netminders Heather Rossi and Katie Vaughan were helping Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the World University Games in Turkey. Of course, more to the point of being an All-American honorable mention, she led the team in scoring with 16 points. Evans led PSU in goals with 10, while Chroman - who also received the Community Play Maker award - steadied a defense that was also thinned out by a WUG departure (Lindsay Reihl) and injuries.

1. Promising prospect has options, inside and outside hockey
(Toronto Star)

Zach Hyman was a fifth-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers last year. He's also a high-end student, and committed to play for Guy Gadowsky at Princeton to develop both athletically and academically...heeeey wait, Gadowsky coaches for us now! Turns out, Hyman also noticed that and has started looking at other schools.

Under normal circumstances, I'd have to think PSU would be near the top of his list. But to put it bluntly, he doesn't seem like the type of prospect who would be willing to hang out in the ACHA for a year. For a guy who can more or less name his college to do that, you have to really, really like Penn State and/or be really, really excited to help build something, and Hyman probably isn't in those category, since he'd essentially be following a coach. Here's the quote from the article that says all of that.

Where he’ll land is anyone’s guess, and visits to campuses from the states of Massachusetts to Minnesota are scheduled for the coming days. One of Hyman’s options, accompanying Gadowsky to Penn State, involves a leap of faith. Penn State, which recently received an $88 million donation to its nascent elite hockey program from alumnus Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Sabres, won’t play in top-level Division 1 until 2012-13.

Looking at Heisenberg, Princeton has six commits who aren't entering until 2012 or 2013, in addition to seven others for this year. It's entirely possible that we might see those names again at some point.

Best of the Rest

Club sports at university deserve more recognition
(The Review)

Emily Nassi from the University of Delaware's student paper steps in with an column that takes a pro-club sports position. Don't forget where you came from, guys.

Kats Win NJCAA Hockey National Title
(ECC.edu)

Speaking of "where we came from," here's some really old (February-ish) news that I stumbled on while doing something else. Nice to see the Icers' former ICHL rivals doing well with their first-ever national title.

Concussions End Christoffersen's Career

For quite a while now, I've been planning some kind of update post on women's hockey. Last we heard, about a month ago, the head coaching search for the NCAA team is moving along at roughly the same pace as on the men's side, which means we might have some news to report soon. But really, there just hasn't been anything out there, which puts me in the unfortunate position of not having any material, since I'm not exactly in the position of legitimate journalist capable of generating my own stuff at the moment.

This isn't the update I had in mind.

Thanks to Christine Newby in today's Daily Collegian, we've learned that Lady Icers sophomore defender Kate Christoffersen's career has been ended by her fourth concussion, suffered in a win against Liberty back on February 11th.

In this case, I'd be doing a disservice to a well-written article by copy/pasting it and interjecting a couple sentences of my own here and there, so please read Newby's article if you haven't already. It does a fantastic job painting a portrait of a hockey player whose dedication to the game and her team can't be measured, but who also paid a tremendous price for that dedication. It's a heartbreaking situation, but it's nice to see that she'll remain a part of the team:

As for the Lady Icers, coach Mo Stroemel said Christoffersen will still be on the roster next year, even though she can’t play.

“We’re not gonna cut her loose,” Stroemel said. “She’ll be a part of the team still. She will participate in team functions and things like that, and she’ll also help us in terms of helping us manage the team.”

The sophomore defender is looking forward to remaining on the roster.

“The team is everything to me,” Christoffersen said. “Even though I can’t play, I can still be a part of it.”

Christoffersen totaled nine points on three goals and six assists in 45 career games for Penn State. One of those points came in a different defeat of Liberty just over a year before her final game, where she played a vital role in Alicia Lepore's overtime winner. She was selected as an alternate to the inaugural women's World University Games team, which finished fourth in Erzurum, Turkey from January 27th through February 6th.

Meanwhile, the movers and shakers of the ACHA are set to meet in Naples, FL starting April 28th. Among other topics, they're discussing providing less protection to the face and head via the use of half-shields (on the men's side). Yeah, that makes sense.

Lady Icers, Ice Lions Close Seasons

The Lady Icers came home from Rhode Island Sunday with a fourth place finish in the ECWHL playoffs, although head coach Mo Stroemel was less than enthused about it.

“We didn’t play very well. We had trouble moving the puck out of our zone and we just weren’t getting the puck to the net at the other end of the ice. I just felt like we weren’t doing a lot of the things that we worked on and that we do in practice."

“We kind of just didn’t do them. You know, the net result was a lot of running around and not really playing [with] consistence or the way that we were trying to play.”

“We didn’t play well, and we didn’t play with a lot of heart [Sunday]. That result is you are giving up a lot, when you don’t use those two things.”

Take a step back to eleven days ago when PSU was inexcusably snubbed from nationals, and it's pretty easy to understand the whole motivation thing. I won't rehash that debacle (feel free to click the link if you don't already know), but needless to say, this season probably didn't end the way anyone envisioned.

Following that and a home split with Liberty on February 18th and 19th, things got pear-shaped pretty quickly against Rhode Island in the ECWHL semifinals Saturday though, despite the close early score.

The Rams dominated puck possession in the early part of the first period, outshooting Penn State 19-1 in the first eight minutes.

Junior forward Danika Korpacz scored the first goal of the game on the power play to put Rhody on top 11 minutes in.

Penn State tied the game nine minutes into the second period on a hard shot that rang both goal posts before going in.

Senior defenseman Amanda Tassoni regained the lead for the Rams 1:15 later off a strong set up pass from junior forward Kayla Robidoux.

The Rams went up 3-1 with 1:22 remaining in the second period. Freshman forward Lauren Lanoie had her pass blocked by a defender and the puck was picked up in front of the net and fired home by junior forward Johanna Leskinen.

Rhody finally began converting on the high number of chances they were getting throughout the game in the third period.

Man, that is a horribly-written paper. I'll let a better one handle the next game.

During the consolation game on Sunday, UMass scored with 1:16 remaining in the first. The Lady Icers pulled senior goalie Heather Rossi in the third for an extra skater, and the Minutewomen scored again with about 25 seconds left.

“I think that it was a very even game, and [UMass] got lucky with their shot that went in, and we had a lost of missed opportunities for goals,” [assistant captain Michelle] Clarke said. “There were so many close calls for us to get into the net, but we just didn’t finish.”

Unlike Saturday, shots on net were pretty even on Sunday for the Lady Icers who had 25 as UMass recorded 28.

The loss to UMass had an extra twinge of disappointment, as they were one of the two teams that jumped the Lady Icers in the polls to push PSU out of nationals. A win certainly would have offered some vindication on that front.

Meanwhile, the ACHA Men's Division 2 Ice Lions also saw their season end just short of nationals and with a bitter defeat in their conference tournament. A 4-3-1 spring semester record, including a 5-3 Senior Night defeat of rival Pitt, was good enough for the No. 7 slot in the final ranking of the Southeast Region. In Division 2, the teams finishing first and second in each of the four regions earn an automatic trip to nationals, while the teams ranked third through tenth play off until two teams are left to join them, for a total of four teams from each region. In other words, it was off to the regional playoffs in Philly for Penn State.

First up at regionals - Southeast No. 6 Virginia Tech.

Final Game of the opening day pitted two MACHA members VT coming off their Southern MACHA championship against Penn St . Having a tie and one goal game during the year made little secret that this was going to be a barn burner....and it didn't disappoint. Ice Lions broke the scoreless tie in the second only to find the Hokies tie it in the third . Then with 1:54 remaining Penn St manged to squeeze a goal to win 2-1.

With the win, PSU advanced to face perennial D2 power and Southeast No. 3 Maryland-Baltimore County for the right to go to nationals in San Jose (apologies for the awful write-up with the opponent slant).

Showing their ability to adopt their playing style to their opponent - the Sunday game saw UMBC focus on team defense.  Strong forechecking, backchecking, clearing passes, and goaltending would result in a 2d game in which UMBC would prevent their opponent from scoring with the game clock running.  A funny bounce on a penalty shot would result in Penn State's only goal of the game - making the score 2 -1 in favor of UMBC about halfway through the game.  UMBC had gotten on the scoreboard early in the first and again on a power play early in the second.  Those 2 goals would be all that UMBC would need as the entire team turned in a strong defensive performance - anchored by goalie P.J. Carmack - in turning back each rush the Ice Lions made down the ice.  The final minute would see Penn State pull their goalie - but the Dawgs would block shots and clear the puck to seal the victory...in the process earning their 2d consecutive trip to the National Championship.

Senior Ice Lions forward Bill Connelly battles UMBC's Alex Post for the puck. Photo: UMBC official site

The weekend before regionals saw another narrow defeat for the Ice Lions - this one a double-overtime heartbreaker to Temple in the MACHA semifinals on February 19th. PSU held a 2-1 lead in the third period on the strength of a pair of Ryan Gannon goals before Temple's Chris Johnson scored with 15:21 left, ultimately sending the game to overtime. 39 minutes and 51 seconds of extra hockey later, with just nine seconds left in the second overtime, George Rutter reached hero status among the Owl faithful with his winning snipe.

Congratulations to both the Lady Icers and Ice Lions on fantastic seasons!

A Gross Injustice

Abby Miller is suddenly free on March 10th.

Amidst the excitement of the Icers qualifying for their record 20th consecutive ACHA national championship tournament, all is not right in the world of Penn State hockey. 



The Lady Icers finished 9th in the final Women's Division 1 poll released today, one solitary point behind No. 8 Michigan and therefore one solitary point out of ACHA national tournament contention. That, in and of itself, is not the issue - after all, someone has to be the first team out.

Back on January 28th, the date of the last poll, things were a little different, with PSU fairly secure in the top eight:

7. Penn State 113 points, 8-7-1 record
8. Massachusetts, 102, 4-8-3
9. Liberty, 90, 6-3-3
10. Michigan, 87, 8-10-0

Vital pieces Rossi (top) and Vaughan.

So what happened between January 28th and February 17th? Well, for one thing, the World University Games happened. The Lady Icers sent as much personnel over to Turkey as anyone - four players and a head coach. And not just any four players either, as both goaltenders, Heather Rossi and Katie Vaughan, were included in that group. And thanks in large part to the efforts of those two, forward Denise Rohlik, defender Lindsay Reihl and coach Mo Stroemel, the first-ever women's WUG team finished fourth. A pretty decent endorsement for the level of hockey played in the ACHA if you ask me, something for which every coach, player and fan in Women's D1 should be thankful.


Meanwhile back home, the Lady Icers predictably struggled while a series of non-goalies took turns between the pipes. First, it was leading scorer Carly Szyszko helping PSU to a 5-1 win over California (PA). However after that, No. 2 Robert Morris (IL) and then-No. 3 Michigan State came calling, and the results weren't pretty. As those games progressed, Szyszko gave way to Julie Horn, who then gave way to Lindsey Shuler.

Once the WUG contingent returned, the team bounced back into form, earning a road win and tie against always-tough Liberty. The tie was particularly tough to swallow though:

Allie Rothman called Liberty’s game-tying goal with one second left in the third period of Saturday night’s game a “really unfortunate goal.”

“I don’t know what happened, but there was no one on that girl,” the freshman defender said about the goal scorer.

Head coach Mo Stroemel said Liberty pulled its goalie in an attempt to tie the Lady Icers and the Flames fired a shot from the side that was deflected into the net.

“We let down right at the end, and we didn’t attack the shooter, and we gave her a shot,” Stroemel said.

Was that one second the difference between being in and being out? Maybe. But it shouldn't have been. Szyszko after the Robert Morris games:

“Everyone knows our situation...when Heather and Katie are gone, it’s big.”

Evidently everyone doesn't know. Just another reason I can't wait to be rid of the ACHA's garbage after next year. Giving the men's team a tougher road to the national championship (in my opinion) for some unstated and probably nonsensical/arbitrary reason is one thing. Kicking the women, a proven top-eight team when they have a goalie, out of the tournament altogether essentially for sending too many players to WUG to represent their country (and help the ACHA look good) is simply obtuse.

Update: The Collegian got some team reaction to the snub, mostly from Rossi and fellow senior Amanda Yost.

World University Games: Day 10

Men

USA Hockey recap

I know I essentially said the same thing after the quarterfinal loss to Belarus, but I really hope everyone looks beyond the defeat to the big picture of how the World University Games program, the ACHA and hockey in the US in general are trending. The future is bright - we went from bottom feeders to solidly in the second tier in the first decade. The next decade will see us take still another step. Here are the details: 

O'Brien digs DMB like every Penn Stater since 1995

ERZURUM, Turkey – Team USA scored three goals in the third period to pull within one, but the U.S. Men's National University Team dropped a 4-3 decision to Slovakia here today in its final game of the 2011 Winter World University Games. Team USA captured sixth place and finished the tournament with a 3-0-0-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.

This marks the U.S. Men's National University Team's highest finish at the tournament. In past performances, Team USA has finished seventh (2009), eighth (2001, 2007), ninth (2005) and eleventh (2003).

Team USA fell behind less than three minutes into the game. Devin Sheehan (Binghamton, N.Y./University of Rhode Island) was then assessed a penalty shot at the 6:05 mark, but failed to convert.

After Slovakia built up a 3-0 lead in the middle frame, the U.S. responded with two power-play goals in the third period. Alan Dionne (North Scituate, R.I./University of Rhode Island) scored at the 8:55 mark and Tim O'Brien (Bethel Park, Pa./Penn State University) notched another power-play tally just 2:05 later to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Slovakia extended its lead to 4-2 only 27 seconds later. Dan Lassik (Garnet Valley, Pa./University of Rhode Island) then scored with 18 seconds remaining in regulation to bring the U.S. within one goal, but Slovakia held on for the victory.

Goaltender Dan Pyne (Warrington, Pa./Drexel University) made 24 saves for the U.S., while Peter Pus stopped 25 shots for Slovakia.

Penn State Update

O'Brien's goal, his third in as many games, came on the power play and gave Team USA a brief (and I mean brief - Slovakia answered 27 seconds later) glimpse at the end of the comeback tunnel at 3-2 with exactly 9:00 remaining. Michael Macari and James Telfer had the two assists. Speaking of assists, O'Brien got one of those as well, on Lassik's goal with 18 seconds left that unfortunately served mostly as window dressing. Other than that, he found himself on ice for three other goals, five of the seven scored in the game in total. The exceptions were Slovakia's first goal 2:47 into the game and the aforementioned goal 27 seconds after his, which works out to an even plus-minus. He fired two pucks on net and was 0-for-4 on his draws. O'Brien finished the tournament tied for second on Team USA with three goals (with Macari) behind only Dionne's four. The total was also good enough to tie for 23rd overall in the tournament with the gold and bronze medal games still to come.

Eric Steinour finished the game with a +1 rating by being on for that late Lassik goal while taking three shots and winning one of his two faceoffs. Unfortunately, he ended the tournament pointless, although it seems that, in looking at the available information, the coaches saw value in him logging good ice time right up until the end. 

Final PSU Stats               

        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM

Tim O'Brien     6   3   1   4    -1   0

Eric Steinour   6   0   0   0    -2   6

Other Games

In semifinal action, Belarus goalie Vitali Bialinski - the guy who came in and shut the door on Team USA after Tim O'Brien's goal in the quarterfinals - stopped 29 of 30 as the Belarussians advanced to the gold medal game with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan. Pavel Razvadouski had a goal and an assist to support the winning effort...Belarus will take on their former countrymen, Russia, for the gold. Anton Lazarev's goal 1:29 into the third period proved to be the difference as the Russians took down Canada 4-2. Brandon MacLean had a goal and a helper for Team Canada.

The Czech Republic used a pair of second period goals from Pavel Kriz and Martin Spok to erase a 2-1 deficit and rally past Japan 3-2 to take 7th place.

Final Tournament Placement

1. Russia/Belarus

2. Russia/Belarus

3. Kazakhstan/Canada

4. Kazakhstan/Canada

5. Slovakia

6. USA

7. Czech Republic

8. Japan

9. Slovenia

10. Spain

11. South Korea

12. Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 6th

Bronze medal game:
CAN-KAZ 4:30 a.m.

Gold medal game:
BLR-RUS 8:00 a.m.

Women

USA Hockey recap

At the risk of sounding repetitive (again), the women's team is also deserving of our utmost respect and congratulations. Tying it back to what I said about the men's team above, the women are miles ahead of where the men were in 2001, and it will also be exciting to watch this side of things grow in the coming years. So despite unfortunately not coming away with the bronze, job well done. Recap:

Crawford is generally awesome

ERZURUM, Turkey – Shea Crawford (Selbyville, Del./Lindenwood University) scored the lone goal for Team USA, as the U.S. Women's National University Team fell to Slovakia, 3-1, here today in the bronze-medal game of the the 2011 Winter World University Games. Team USA finished the tournament with a 2-0-0-5 (W-OTW-OTL-L) overall record.

The 2011 Winter World University Games marked the first time the U.S. sent a women's team after women's ice hockey was added to the tournament in 2009. The U.S. Women's National University Team's fourth-place finish is the highest a U.S. team has placed at the tournament.

"It was a great game today," said Mo Stroemel, head coach of the U.S. Women's National University Team. "We've made history and hopefully paved the way for many future women's teams that will play in this tournament."

Slovakia took a 1-0 lead 9:09 into the game with the first period's lone tally. The U.S. proceeded to have two breakaway opportunities, but could not find the back of the net.

After a scoreless second period, Slovakia scored just 41 seconds into the final frame and then notched a power-play tally at the 11:45 mark.

Down 3-0 heading into the final two minutes of regulation, Crawford gave the U.S. life when she scored on the power play. After Slovakia was called for tripping at 18:16, Emily Nelson (Harper Woods, Mich./University of Michigan) and Megan Winters (Basking Ridge, N.J./Northeastern University) set up Crawford, who sent a shot on net that beat Slovakian goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova with 1:28 remaining in the period.

Thirty-nine seconds later, the U.S. sent an extra skater to the ice, but could not edge closer as Slovakia held on for the 3-1 victory.

Goaltender Katie Vaughan (South Park, Pa./Penn State University) made 18 saves for Team USA, while Tomcikova stopped 27 shots for Slovakia.

Penn State Update

Vaughan finished a strong tournament by stopping 18 of 21 in defeat - none of the three goals appear soft on paper, they all came from that prime territory between the circles and down low. Her cumulative 1.81 goals against average was the best in the tournament outside of the goalies from dominant teams Finland and Canada...Reihl was a -1 (on for the 2-0 goal 41 seconds into the third) and took one shot. Her three assists for the tournament were good enough to land her 19th on the list of highest-scoring defenders, behind teammates Megan Winters, Crawford and Christina Young and her six penalty minutes tied her for 13th overall...Denise Rohlik didn't show up on the stats for the second straight game, but also had a good tournament, as you can see below.

Final PSU Stats                        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM
Lindsay Reihl   7   0   3   3    -8   6
Denise Rohlik   7   1   3   4    +7   0

                GP   Record    SOG   SVS  SV%    GAA    SHO
Heather Rossi   4    0-0-0-4   151   129  0.854  6.00   0
Katie Vaughan   4    2-0-0-1   42    36   0.857  1.81   1
        
Other Games

Canada cruised to the gold medal in surprisingly easy (considering their tilt in group play) fashion, 4-1 over Finland. Finland, of course, takes home silver. Goalie Liz Knox made 20 saves on 21 shots, and Jessica Zerafa's goal 4:01 into the second period held up as the game winner. The Canadians rode roughshod over the competition all the way through, allowing only three goals and 63 shots over the entire tournament. Incidentally, Charlotte Hoium's goal (from Lindsay Reihl) in the semifinals was the only one of the three not scored by Finland and their five Olympic medalists.

In the 5th place game, Great Britain blew out Turkey 10-0. Sophie Herbert scored three of the ten, while Holly Cornford and Jennifer Bolton each added two.  

Final Tournament Placement

1. Canada

2. Finland

3. Slovakia

4. USA

5. Great Britain

6. Turkey

World University Games: Day 9

Men

USA Hockey recap

I guess taking a ton of penalties isn't quite as bad when you score almost as many shorthanded as the other team does on the power play. It wasn't easy, or pretty, but the win guarantees Team USA its highest WUG finish since the ACHA helped revive the American presence at the event in 2001. The US earned a bronze medal at the 1972 WUG using players from...I don't know, somewhere else. The NCAA, presumably. Here's the write-up: 

Lepre bagged a shorty

ERZURUM, Turkey – Paced by shorthanded goals from Michael Lepre (Chesterland, Ohio/Kent State University) and Devin Sheehan (Binghamton, N.Y./University of Rhode Island), the U.S. Men's National University Team topped Japan, 5-3, at the 2011 Winter World University Games. Eleven players recorded a point for Team USA, which advances to the fifth-place game against Slovakia tomorrow (Feb. 5) at 1 p.m. EST.

"This is a huge win for us, especially since Japan has beaten us at the last two tournaments," said Dave Debol, head coach of the U.S. Men's National University Team. "We've accomplished our goal of placing higher than we ever have before at this tournament and earning fifth place would be a great honor."

Team USA opened the scoring 6:39 into the first period, when Lepre notched a shorthanded tally. Augie Hoffmann (Lake Forest, Ill./University of Oklahoma) sent a feed to Lepre, who skated up ice on a breakaway and fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Japanese goaltender Yuta Narisawa.

Japan tied the game at the 10:45 mark of the second period, but the U.S. gained a 2-1 edge less than five minutes later with a goal by Alan Dionne (North Scituate, R.I./University of Rhode Island).

Tim O'Brien (Bethel Park, Pa./Penn State University) then scored with just :38 remaining in the middle frame to give Team USA a two-goal cushion heading into the third period.

The U.S. took a 4-1 lead 4:38 into the third period when Sheehan scored Team USA's second shorthanded goal of the game. Japan scored twice to cut the U.S. lead to 4-3, but Kevin Kranker (Lake Orion, Mich./Oakland University) notched a power-play goal to secure the 5-3 victory.

Team USA goaltender Erik Hudson (Spokane, Wash./Iowa State University) made 36 saves in the win, while Narisawa stopped 29 shots for Japan.

Penn State Update

For the second straight game, O'Brien scored an important goal on a day where they were all pretty important. It came on a 2-on-1 with Grant Gorczyca at the 19:22 mark of the second period. In a rare act of Penn State-Ohio cooperation, Tyler Pilmore had the second assist. O'Brien was also on for Ryo Murakami's third-period goal that trimmed the US lead to 4-2, so he comes out even on the plus-minus ledger. He added two shots other than the goal and was 1-2 on faceoffs...Eric Steinour was on ice for Kranker's power play goal with 6:41 left that restored sanity after Japan had trimmed a 4-1 lead to 4-3. He had one third-period shot and a 1-1 faceoff record.

Cumulative PSU Stats               

        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM

Tim O'Brien     5   2   0   2    -1   0

Eric Steinour   5   0   0   0    -3   6

Other Games

In the 11th place game, Turkey managed to score for the second straight game, but it wasn't enough to match Sang Youp Lee's two first period goals as South Korea defeated Turkey 4-1...in a surprising result to anyone who's been playing close attention, Spanish goaltender Ander Alcaine Val was beaten seven times in just over 50 minutes as Slovenia cruised past Spain 8-0 in the 9th place game behind eight different goal scorers.

Ondrej Zosiak's power play goal goal with 6:18 left completed Slovakia's comeback from an early 2-0 hole and boosted them past the Czech Republic 3-2. The Slovaks were outshot 36-18, however goalie Peter Pus stopped 34 Czech attempts, including all 16 he faced in the third period. Slovakia moves on to face Team USA for 5th place, while the Czech Republic battles Japan for 7th.

Final Tournament Placement

1. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

2. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

3. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

4. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

5. Slovakia/USA

6. Slovakia/USA

7. Japan/Czech Republic

8. Japan/Czech Republic

9. Slovenia

10. Spain

11. South Korea

12. Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 5th

7th place game:
CZE-JPN 9:00 a.m.

5th place game:
USA-SVK 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals:
KAZ-BLR 9:30 a.m., CAN-RUS 1:00 p.m.

February 6th

Bronze medal game:
KAZ/BLR-CAN/RUS 4:30 a.m.

Gold medal game:
KAZ/BLR-CAN/RUS 8:00 a.m.

Women

USA Hockey recap

No point in wasting time - straight to the recap we go:

Reihl's assist helped bring the US within one

ERZURUM, Turkey – The U.S. Women's National University Team fell to Canada, 8-1, here today at the 2011 Winter World University Games. The U.S., which is competing in the women's tournament for the first time, will play in the bronze-medal game against Slovakia tomorrow (Feb. 5) at 2:30 a.m. EST.

After Canada took a 2-0 lead at the 12:46 mark of the first period, the U.S. responded with a goal to cut its deficit in half. Team USA led a rush into the offensive zone and Lindsay Reihl (Cheshire, Conn./Penn State University) fed the puck to Charlotte Hoium (Falcon Heights, Minn./Michigan State University), who sent a shot past Canadian goaltender Liz Knox.

Canada scored just :55 into the middle frame and notched two more goals to take a 5-1 lead into the third period.

Team USA killed four penalties in the final frame, but Canada scored three unanswered goals to seal the victory.

Goaltender Heather Rossi (Effort, Pa./Penn State University) made 48 saves for the U.S., while Knox and Beth Clause stopped six shots for Canada.

Hate to tell you, but there's also video - second half of this:



Penn State Update

Rossi started and finished the game in goal. She faced a tremendously adverse situation, with Canada outshooting the US by a staggering 56-7 count, but came out of it standing - despite the eight goals against, she actually improved her save percentage for the tournament. Rossi also took a charging penalty (successfully killed) in the third period. I'd love to see how that happened...Reihl assisted on Hoium's late first period goal that kept Team USA in the game, at least at the first intermission. However, she was also on ice for five Canadian goals (one on the power play) resulting in a -3 for the game. Reihl's three total points currently place her 16th in scoring by defenders at the tournament...neither Reihl nor Denise Rohlik recorded a shot on goal.

Cumulative PSU Stats                        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM
Lindsay Reihl   6   0   3   3    -7   6
Denise Rohlik   6   1   3   4    +7   0

                GP   Record    SOG   SVS  SV%    GAA    SHO
Heather Rossi   4    0-0-0-4   151   129  0.854  6.00   0
Katie Vaughan   3    2-0-0-0   21    18   0.857  1.29   1
        
Other Games

In the other semifinal matchup, Finland overpowered Slovakia 5-1 with a 42-11 shot differential. Venla Hovi scored the game-winning goal and assisted on three others to support the winning cause. The Finns are now assured of at least the silver medal and will take on Canada for the gold tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.

Final Tournament Placement

1. Canada/Finland

2. Canada/Finland

3. Slovakia/USA

4. Slovakia/USA

5. Great Britain/Turkey

6. Great Britain/Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 5th

Bronze medal game:
USA-SVK 2:30 a.m.

5th place game:
TUR-GBR 5:00 a.m.

Gold medal game:
FIN-CAN 6:00 a.m.