Men's Jersey Countdown: #1 P.J. Musico

Junior - Goaltender - 6'1" - 198 pounds - Orange, CA

P.J. Musico, most observers assume, has a tough road ahead of him with highly-esteemed and younger goalies Eamon McAdam and Matt Skoff both in the program. But even a cursory look at Musico's history makes it clear that he shouldn't be written off. As an Icers freshman in 2011-12, he stepped on to a team including returning starter Matt Madrazo and respected recruit Tim Carr - and proceeded to lead PSU in every major goaltending category, including minutes, wins, save percentage and goals against average. Last season, with Skoff in the fold, Musico took control of the crease early on and delivered several signature performances. On October 12th against AIC, his 32 saves helped a 4-3 overtime win that was Penn State's first victory of the NCAA era, and he followed up two weeks later with the Nittany Lions' first NCAA shutout, at Army on October 26th. Most impressively, Musico's 40-save, first-star effort in a 3-2 win over RIT in front of more than 10,000 orange-clad Tigers supporters on October 20th announced PSU as a threat in varsity year one.

Career Statistics (2011-12 with ACHA Icers):
Season	GP	GS	Min.	Record	GA	Saves	GAA	Sv%	SO
2011-12	17	15	954:22	14-1-1	24	319	1.51	0.930	2
2012-13	10	10	559:19	4-6-0	30	268	3.22	0.899	1
ACHA Career	17	15	954:22	14-1-1	24	319	1.51	0.930	2
NCAA Career	10	10	559:19	4-6-0	30	268	3.22	0.899	1

Three Stars: September 30-October 6

Even PSU's Cooperall phase deserves to be remembered

3. Men's Hockey Media Day - Sights and Sounds
(GoPSUSports.com)

Much like with the women last week, I figured I could link 38 stories using the quotes given at last week's media day, or I could just give you the raw material.

PS. Is it just me, or is "sights and sounds" a really, really stupid label for something about a media day? Sights: People sitting behind a table and a microphone. Sounds: People talking. It's not a carnival.

2. Good Life: Q&A with Guy Gadowsky
(Centre Daily Times)

I've had sort of a mancrush on Guy Gadowsky ever since he revealed his music tastes to Pennsylvania Puck a while back, but I don't think I truly "got" him until recently. This interview, while good, doesn't break a ton of new ground - although this caught my attention:

We’re still very young and, obviously, competing against the programs in the Big Ten that we are, we’re not looking at expectations in terms of wins and losses. We certainly have very high expectations to continue to build on that foundation and areas that we can control.

Raise your hand if, the first time you heard him say something about laying and/or building on a foundation, you expected him to still be saying it heading into his third season at PSU. I didn't. But now, I don't really expect him to ever stop, which is something I can certainly appreciate. You could probably rephrase it as "take care of the little things and the big things (the wins and losses) take care of themselves," a line often attributed to one former Penn State coach.

1. How Penn State hockey got here
(Big Ten Network)

Finally. Someone who gets it with respect to PSU hockey history. His name is Jeremy Woo, and you can thank him by giving him a click and read.

For what it's worth, I did my part by a) linking it and b) arranging for this tribute.

Best of the Rest

Freshman goalie Eamon McAdam, during his first appearance in a full PSU uniform

A closer look at the players between the pipes for Penn State ice hockey in 2013-14
(Stack the Pads)

PennLive goalie expert Derek Meluzio gives his take on the men's crease situation, sure to be a major topic of discussion as the season gets underway.

Fans Flock To Pegula Ice Arena For Midnight Practice
(StateCollege.com)

A nice wrap up on the men's midnight practice Friday night/Saturday morning from Ben Jones, including a photo gallery.

Captain Practice A Unique Wrinkle As Season Approaches
(StateCollege.com)

Jones earned the rare double with a nice feature on how the team deals with the fact that the NCAA doesn't allow full practices until one week before most teams begin the regular season.

In move that alters landscape of college hockey, Pegula proud to unveil new era at Penn State
(Associated Press)

This one made it in more because it's an AP story that received heavy distribution than due to anything particularly fabulous about it, but I did like this quote near the end from Joe Battista:

“Someday, wouldn’t it be great to turn on the television and see Penn State play Alabama in ice hockey?”

Not if Nick Saban is allowed anywhere near that program.

PSU All-Sports Museum's Hockey Exhibit to Open Oct. 11
(GoPSUSports.com)

In last week's Three Stars, I shared a photo gallery of the new hockey exhibit at the All-Sports Museum. I thought it was open then, but apparently, it opens Friday.

Big Ten Network Makes Investment in College Hockey
(New York Times)

This one ought to get people talking:

If college hockey takes off on television, Minnesota Coach Don Lucia said he hoped two more Big Ten institutions might add the sport.

The Big Ten associate commissioner Jennifer Heppel, who oversees hockey, said she would not rule out adding associate members for hockey alone, as the conference did for Johns Hopkins in lacrosse, though not soon.

“It’s hard to predict the college landscape right now, especially Division I,” she said.

Nebraska-Omaha or UNO or Omaha or whatever they're calling themselves these days has always been tossed out as a possible Big Ten affiliate member, due to being part of the University of Nebraska system that also includes Big Ten member Nebraska-Lincoln. I suppose the same logic puts Minnesota-Duluth out there as well.

Freshman David Thompson is expected to play a big role on the Penn State blueline

Blueline depth bodes well for Penn State
(The Daily Collegian)

The Collegian is over halfway through a comprehensive and well-conceived ten-article season preview for the NCAA men. The first entry is linked above, and here are the others out so far:

B1G and Pegula will help lure recruits
Offense looks to improve with depth and experience
Potential NHL talent factor in to this season and future
Student Section looks to terrorize opposition
Penn State's nine most formidable foes
Penn State eyes underdog role with tough schedule

With the season already underway for many teams and about to be there for the rest, similar efforts are all the rage. Here are a few more...

Penn State Men’s Hockey Season Preview
(PSU ComMedia)

It really is pretty refreshing to see people finally treating the Nittany Lions like an actual hockey team and not just a... oh wow, Pegula Ice Arena is amazing, you guys. The Collegian's on board with that, as is ComRadio's Ross Insana, who checked in with his version of a men's preview.

Insana also wrote a column regarding PSU's size and physicality. We sure do have some big hombres on the squad, especially up front.

2013-2014 Big Ten Preview: Individual Awards
(Western College Hockey Blog)

WCHB - which still hasn't been re-named, despite its now-national scope - took a fairly predictable approach with respect to their guesses at Big Ten awards by largely ignoring PSU other than tossing the two recent NHL draft picks on the all-rookie team.

Penn State Season Preview
(USCHO)

Flipping over to the women, USCHO hit the Nittany Lions in their team-by-team previews and highlighted the fact that Penn State didn't really get run out of the rink by anyone in NCAA year one.

“The fact that we were there in those games, with so many close contests last year, to me was a very pay-it-forward type thing,” [Josh] Brandwene said. “We’re looking to get better defensively, we’re looking to get better offensively. We want to improve every day and build upon the opportunity we had last year to be competitive and then take it to the next level.”

Penn State Women’s Hockey: Season Preview
(Victory Bell Rings)

VBR's Mary Clarke (who did a phenomenal job tweeting the women's games over the weekend, make sure you're following her), had this to say:

Last year, Penn State surprised some people with their resilience and overall team tenacity. This year, look for the team to improve overall, with a few new additions to the forward core, a new face on the blue line, and a strong goaltending team in net. Keeping the opponent’s shots on goal to a minimum and increasing their own shots towards the net, in my opinion, will be a key to their success this season.

Also, she called me lovely, which made me feel pretty good about myself.

Blue Liner Notes: ACHA Teams Get Underway
(Black Shoe Diaries)

IcersGuy began his weekly rundown of UPark's four teams for the season with a look back at the opening series for the Women's Ice Hockey Club and the Ice Lions.

Robert Morris extends Colontino through 2016-17
(USCHO)

In an abbreviated "opponent news" section, RMU women's coach Paul Colontino received a two-year contract extension. Colontino is just beginning his third season and, in 2012, led the Colonials to the CHA playoff title.

Lofty goals for Robert Morris hockey this season
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Over on the men's side, Derek Schooley's gang will come into the season motivated by their NCAA Tournament at-large bid near-miss last season. RMU was left out of the show despite wins over Quinnipiac (the eventual tournament runners-up who spent most of the season ranked number one) and in the Three Rivers Classic title game over perennial power Miami.

Welcome, Josh Healey!
(Deadly Nuts)

Deadly Nuts recently completed a series profiling Ohio State's freshman, and it's pretty fantastic. Possibly because other people care about annoying things like "copyright infringement" (sounds like a made up thing to me), both this post and the entire blog are illustrated with MS Paint cartoons. And I've said it before, but the writing is sort of what I was/wanted to be before I lost my edge sometime in 2011 and started writing dry recaps of other people's work once a week.

I picked Healey to link because he's from that PSU recruiting hotbed of Edmonton, AB and because he played with Dylan Richard for Canada West at last year's World Junior A Challenge.

Robert Pelletier vs Conor Garland Sep 22, 2013
(YouTube)

Once in a while, something reminds me that I never deleted my "Conor Garland" Google alert. Finally, this time around, I succumbed to my morbid curiosity. So I went to look up something about him that I could use here and found... a fight video. Didn't expect that. If you're hoping to see the diminutive Garland take a Boogaard vs. Fedoruk-level beatdown (admittedly, I was) you'll be disappointed, but he eats a high enough number of quality blows for me to keep it in.

Anyway, in a partial 2012-2013 season for the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats (26 games), Garland had six goals and 17 points for a club that went 42-23-3 but was bounced in the first round of the playoffs. So far this year, Moncton is 4-6-0 with Garland's 11 points placing him third on the team in scoring. He's eligible for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, but at 5'7", 170 pounds opinions on where he'll go are mixed, even with his ridiculous skill level.

Sophomore Jordin Pardoski and her teammates were wound up after beating Vermont

@JordinPardoski
(Twitter)

Jordin Pardoski, reporting from the bus on the way back from the tie-win weekend in Vermont:

This maaaaaay or maaaay not be the first bus ride where NO ONE is sleeping #WoundUp

M: Penn State 0 at Wisconsin 5

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UWBadgers.com recap

Gadowsky postgame video // Eaves postgame video // UW players postgame video

UWBadgers.com photos // Centre Daily Times recap // PennLive recap

Bucky's 5th Quarter recap // Badger Herald recap

Well, that sucked. No point in belaboring it - here's the UWBadgers.com recap:

---

One man's continued grind was a microcosm of a team's season-long battle.

"I've had opportunities this season," Tyler Barnes said. "I haven't been able to close on them.

"I knew to just keep working hard, bear down and eventually they'd start coming. We're really getting some quality chances and I think that's where it stems from."

Unable to finish out a number of close games and letting leads slip from them early on in the season, the Badgers--like Barnes-- have since learned to close things out.

Barnes and the Badgers left no doubt on Sunday night inside the Kohl Center, as the Eagan, Minn., native put together a four-point game and led Wisconsin (14-10-7, 11-7-7 WCHA) to a 5-0 shutout win over Penn State (12-14-0).

"I think more than anything if (Barnes) can have that feeling of confidence from the inside out and have that momentum going that could be a real valuable thing for him, and us," Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said.

The junior forward scored his eighth goal of the season and recorded three assists to bring his point total to 19 on the season. Meanwhile, the Badgers improved their record over the last 20 games to 13-3-4, after they started 1-7-3 through the first two months of the season.

The first period served as a bit of a feeling out period, as the game marked the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and new NCAA Division I hockey program Penn State.

"You could feel the energy that they were playing with," Barnes said. "You have to give them credit for how they came out. I really could see this developing into something that becomes a good rivalry."

The two teams, each set to join the new Big Ten hockey conference next season, ended the first period recording six shots on goal.

"We just could've been better, just could've been sharper," John Ramage (St. Louis) said of the first period. "It starts with having a week off, but you always want more from yourself and the team and that's what we did in the second and third periods and showed what we are capable of.

"We really took it to them."

Over the final 40 minutes, the Badgers established a pace and tempo that forced the Nittany Lions back into their defensive zone and kept them there, racking up 45 shots and ending the night with a season-high 51 shots.

On senior night, team captain Ramage set the tone, scoring 1:26 into the second period, recording his sixth goal of the season and 12th of his career to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead. Barnes and Mark Zengerle (Rochester, N.Y.) each recorded assists.

Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.) ended a five-game scoring drought at the 16:05 mark of the second period, as he jabbed at a puck in front of net and that bounced past P.J. Musico in the Penn State net for the score. Barnes earned his second assist of the night, while Jake McCabe (Eau Claire, Wis.) was also credited with an assist.

It was the 17th goal on the season for Mersch, as the junior forward moved into a tie for fourth place in goal scoring in the WCHA. Going 2-for-7 against Penn State, Wisconsin's power play scored its 11th goal on the season, with Mersch accounting for six.

Nic Kerdiles extended Wisconsin's lead to 3-0 at the 10:20 mark of the third period, punching a loose puck past Musico. Barnes recorded his third assist on the night, while Zengerle dished out his second.

Barnes put the finishing touches on his four-point night in the third period at the 15:17 mark of the period. Having just checked out of the penalty box, Barnes was found wide open behind the defensive zone on a long feed from Keegan Meuer (Madison, Wis.). Barnes came down on the breakaway, deked Musico, then scored backhand to give Wisconsin a 4-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Brendan Woods (Yorba Linda, Calif.) scored his fourth goal of the season, on the power play, and put the finishing touches on Wisconsin's 5-0 shutout win at the 16:51 mark of the period.

Joel Rumpel (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) earned his seventh-career shutout, as the sophomore recorded 22 saves on the night to mark his eighth win of the season (8-7-4).

"It starts with [Joel Rumpel] on the back end, good goaltending and playing good defense as a whole and you build from there," Eaves said. "Tonight we were able to put together five goals, which we haven't done a lot this season.

"Other teams talk about us and say we're hard to play against. When we get into the playoffs, we play a pretty stingy game. We don't give up a lot and that's to our benefit."

Wisconsin looks to continue in building its postseason resume, finishing the series with Penn State tomorrow at the Kohl Center. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (CT). The game can be viewed live on BTN.

M: Penn State 4 vs. Oklahoma 1

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

Guy Gadowsky postgame video // Michael Longo postgame video

Here's the GoPSUSports.com recap, as PSU improves to 17-15-0 in all games, while remaining 12-13-0 in NCAA games and 10-11-0 against NCAA DI.

---

After falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Penn State men's hockey team scored four unanswered goals as it skated to a 4-1 exhibition victory against the ACHA's Oklahoma Sooners at Greenberg Ice Pavilion Friday night.

Freshmen Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Mark Yanis (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) notched a goal and an assist each, while Michael Longo (Allison Park, Pa.) and Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) also scored. Jordan Greenberg tallied for the Sooners.

Penn State outshot Oklahoma by a 41-32 margin and finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Sooners were 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Sophomore netminder PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) turned aside 31 shots, and Oklahoma goaltender Colin Fernandes made 37 saves.

Greenberg gave Oklahoma a 1-0 lead with 51 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Augie Hoffman received Mason Miller's pass at the left point and found Greenberg near the bottom of the right circle for the backdoor goal.

Penn State struck twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. With 10:54 left in the second, Longo tied the game following an Oklahoma turnover. Sophomore Jacob Friedman (West Bloomfield, Mich.) intercepted a Sooner outlet pass along the boards and fed Longo in the slot, where his wrister beat Fernandes high.

Yanis put Penn State ahead, 2-1, 5:28 later. Junior Justin Kirchhevel (Brookings, S.D.) stopped an Oklahoma clearing attempt from behind the cage and fed a pass to Yanis above the left circle. The Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., native took a stride toward the net before his shot through traffic beat Fernandes.

In the third period, Brooks made it a two-goal game just 36 seconds into the stanza. After getting the puck from Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, B.C.), Brooks spun around a defenseman and scored on a low shot. Holstrom added a power-play tally with 14:28 left in the game. After receiving a pass from Yanis at the top of the left circle, Holstrom wristed a shot past Fernandes to account for the 4-1 final.Penn State and Oklahoma will conclude their two-game series Saturday, Feb. 16 when the teams play the final Penn State hockey game at Greenberg Ice Pavilion. [Note: Categorically false, so I'm crossing it out. The ACHA D2 women are "Penn State hockey," and have a game remaining at the rink.] Opening faceoff is set at 3:30 p.m.

Three Stars: February 4-10

3. A Sneak Peek at the Pegula Ice Arena
(The Penn Stater)

PIA tours have become frequent enough that it's no longer a guaranteed all-time top tenner (traffic wise) when I drop in a photo of the progress, whether from myself or someone else. Regardless, here's a solid recent look from Tina Hay, the editor of PSU's alumni magazine. Pics beyond the two in the post were dropped in a Facebook gallery as well.

2. State College High School grad Holdcroft playing big role
(Centre Daily Times)

If you don't like the way Jill Holdcroft plays, you don't like hockey.

"I work hard, which might make up for not having some other essential skills," Holdcroft said. "I love to forecheck and get into the corners and make the other team work even harder to defend against."

Yeah, no kidding.

1. Fourth concussion forces an end to Lady Icer's career
(The Daily Collegian)

While I referenced it directly and indirectly a few times over the weekend, I wanted to get one last shoutout to Kate Christoffersen on the record, following the forward's Senior Day on Saturday. She's a pre-donation player who finished on the NCAA team, a great thing in and of itself. But for those who don't know by now, this happened at the end of the 2010-2011 season:

Kate Christoffersen and her parents couldn’t help but cry at their kitchen counter.

The three shed tears on March 6, after Kate arrived home to Trumbull, Conn., for spring break as David and Mary talked to their daughter about the possibility of ending her 14-year hockey career.

The Lady Icers sophomore defender had sustained her fourth career concussion on Feb. 11. After the season, Christoffersen decided to hang up her skates and stop playing the game she has played since age 6 because of what she calls her “most severe concussion.”

From there to here - one of my favorite stories ever.

Best of the Rest

Minnesota-Grown College Commitments
(Let's Play Hockey)

When combining the men and women, and among DI schools, Penn State's six recruits from Minnesota trail only North Dakota's eight among out-of-state schools. They're not leftovers either. On the men's side, Anchorage transfer Eric Scheid is a proven DI player, as he was fourth on the Seawolves in scoring as a freshman last year. For the women, Amy Petersen and Laura Bowman are most of the offense for two-time defending state high school champ Minnetonka and Hannah Ehresmann is part of a 50-50 goalie rotation for the Skippers. Christi Vetter (Lakeville North) and Sarah Nielsen (Edina) are also two of the best players on two of the best teams in the state. National and district camp invites are sprinkled throughout as well. Basically, well done, coaches.

B³ Postgame Recap: Lincoln 2, Omaha 4
(Black and Blue Blog)

One of those Minnesotans - Scheid - had a chance to play in the USHL's first outdoor game on Saturday, the afternoon half of a doubleheader at Omaha's TD Ameritrade Park. However, the archrival Omaha Lancers jumped all over Scheid's Lincoln Stars early and coasted to the win in front of an announced 13,650. The Blaine High School product was a +1 with a pair of shots.

The nightcap was an NCAA game, with host Nebraska-Omaha (or just "Omaha" if you ask them) falling to the North Dakota [Nickname] ("Fighting Sioux" if you ask them) 5-2.

Brandon Saad First Goal
(nhl.com)

Congrats to George Saad's brother on scoring his first NHL goal for the Blackhawks. I'm going to be honest with you guys though, I'm a little tired of living vicariously through Penn State siblings and other, much more tenuous, connections to the show. Here's hoping for our very own NHLer - not one from the OHL's Saginaw Spirit or Wisconsin (Max Gardiner's brother Jake) - in the next five years or so.

Five collegians to watch for the 2013 NHL Draft
(Hockey's Future)

...so, towards that end, here's someone who thinks Mark Yanis is a "collegian to watch" for this year's NHL Entry Draft. As a second-year eligible guy, the deck's kind of stacked against him, because there's a whole new birth year available for people to get excited about, and hey, everyone already passed on him once (seven times, actually).

That said, it does happen. One example is a player PSU saw this year, and in fact scored a game-winning goal against the Nittany Lions: Union defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who was passed over in 2011 before being drafted 78th overall by the Flyers in 2012. Yanis, who was given a B rating (roughly translating to mid-round consideration) on the NHL Central Scouting watch list in 2011 before dropping out of the ratings closer to the 2012 draft, is an intriguing prospect. He does fit the mold as a possible second-year pick, since he's someone who has taken a developmental step that many expected to see last year, specifically with respect to his offensive capabilities. He's been as advertised otherwise, of course (see photo above). The bottom line for me is that he is good enough for an NHL team to own his rights, but the logistics are against him. We'll see - here's hoping.

2013 Draft Blog: Eamon McAdam Pt. 3
(The Pipeline Show)

A PSU guy much more likely to be drafted is Eamon McAdam, an incoming freshman next year, who chipped in a long-awaited third blog entry for TPS last week. In it, he discusses his SportsCenter-worthy save at the USHL Top Prospects Game, as well as his other experiences at the showcase.

PJ Musico riding the Penn State hockey wave and making the most of it
(Stack the Pads)

Keeping the goalie love going, here's a comprehensive look at Penn State's repository of Caliswag.

Also, is there a more Canadian place name than Flin Flon? Maybe Moose Jaw.

Penn State ice hockey team might not return to Hershey for a while
(pennlive.com)

Obvious statement is obvious. PSU will want to play at Pegula Ice Arena as much as possible, and if they do venture to neutral Pennsylvania sites, it will likely be to cultivate their following in the major cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

1/12 Postgame: Guy Gadowsky, P.J. Musico, Tommy Olczyk, Don Granato

Comments from head coach Guy Gadowsky, sophomore goaltender P.J. Musico (on the left in the second video), sophomore forward Tommy Olczyk (on the right in the second video) and U.S. National Team Development Program U18 coach Don Granato following Team USA's 3-0 win over the Nittany Lions Saturday night.

M: Penn State 0 vs. USNTDP U18 3

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // Centre Daily Times recap

The Nittany Lions fell to 10-13-0 in all games (while remaining 8-11-0 in NCAA games and 6-10-0 against NCAA Division I) and had to settle for a weekend split following a 3-0 exhibition loss to the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team Saturday night. Here's the GoPSUSports.com recap, followed by the TYT live blog from the tilt.

---

The Penn State men's hockey team split its weekend series against the U.S. National Under-18 Team with a 3-0 setback at Greenberg Ice Pavilion Saturday evening.

After a scoreless first period, Sean Malone gave the U.S. a one-goal lead with 1:45 left in the second stanza. Michael McCarron tallied at 16:31 of the third before Evan Allen added an empty-net marker in the game's final minute. Team USA netminder Thatcher Demko turned aside 25 shots.

Nittany Lion goaltender PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) made 41 saves, while Penn State finished 0-for-5 on the power play. The U.S. went 0-for-6 with the man advantage and outshot the Nittany Lions by a 44-25 margin.

In the opening period, Penn State found itself down a man early and often as the team committed four penalties during the game's first six minutes. The Nittany Lions were outshot 19-4 in the opening frame, with Musico turning aside each U.S. attempt.

With 1:45 left in the second period, Team USA skated to a 1-0 lead. Allen moved the puck to Labanc in the right circle, where he passed to Malone at the far post for the one-timer.

McCarron gave the U.S. a 2-0 advantage with 3:29 left in the third. Shane Eiserman passed to McCarron in the slot, where his high shot beat Musico. Tyler Kelleher collected an assist on the play.

The U.S. added an empty-netter with 58 seconds remaining when Allen collected the loose puck along the half-wall and wristed a shot into the open net.

The Nittany Lions will return to action Tuesday, Jan. 15 when they welcome Neumann to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion. Opening faceoff is set at 7:30 p.m.

M: Penn State 1 at Connecticut 4

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

Guy Gadowsky postgame // UConn assistant coach David Berard postgame

Casey Bailey scored just 13 seconds into Saturday night's game at UConn - but the lead lasted just 1:09 and the Nittany Lions were shut out for the final 59:47, as Connecticut earned a sweep of Penn State. PSU dropped to 9-12-0 in all games, 8-11-0 in NCAA games and 6-10-0 against NCAA Division I.

Guy Gadowsky's charges will return to the Ice Pavilion this coming Friday and Saturday for a pair of games against the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team.

Here's the UConn recap.

---

The University of Connecticut men's hockey team earned a weekend sweep over visiting Penn State with a 4-1 victory at Freitas Ice Forum on Saturday night to improve to 7-8-2 on the season. Sean Ambrosie scored the game-winning goal late in the first and Garrett Bartus stopped 42 shots to earn the victory.

The Huskies allowed a goal just 13 seconds into the game but responded 1:09 later and scored four straight to finish ahead 4-1. Bartus stopped 18 shots in the third period after being pulled in the last two games before break and not appearing in the UConn Hockey Classic.

"I was struggling a bit before the break, I had to get back to basics and focus on my angles," said Bartus. "After having a couple rough ones, a game like this really helps. You have to have a short memory as a goalie and take each night as a separate game and focus on the task at hand."

Penn State dropped to 8-11-0. UConn will be in action next with two games at Robert Morris on Friday and Saturday, January 11-12 in Moon Township, Pa. Both games can be heard at WHUS.org with live video at UConnhuskies.com.

The action in Saturday's contest opened quickly with two goals in the first 1:22. Penn State scored just 13 seconds in with Casey Bailey beating Bartus from the slot on a three-on-two.

The Huskies responded at 1:22 with freshman Shawn Pauly scoring his second of the weekend. Classmate Joe Birmingham put a shot on frame from the slot that was kicked away by Musico. Pauly corralled the puck on the right side of the net and stuffed home his second goal of the year.

"It felt great (to get first two career goals)," said Pauly. "It took a while but I was trying to not let that affect me. The older guys kept saying that it's coming, it's coming and not to worry. It finally happened and it felt great."

Connecticut took the lead at 16:38 with a power-play goal off the stick of senior captain Sean Ambrosie. Brant Harris sent the puck down the left wall to Jordan Sims. Sims found Ambrosie in the slot who slid the puck over to his backhand and over the glove of Musico. The goal was Ambrosie's fifth of the year.

The Huskies made it a two goal lead with Cody Sharib's fifth of the season at 3:59 of the second period. Tom Janosz sent the puck along the left wall down behind the net. Sean Ambrosie collected on the right side and sent a pass through the crease to Sharib. Sharib flicked a backhand in for the 3-1 lead.

Penn State rang one off the post midway through the period and the UConn 17th-ranked penalty kill successfully denied four PSU power-play attempts, allowing just four shots on goal during the four man-advantages.

Connecticut was outshot in the third, 18-6, but Bartus was up to the task as the UConn defense once again kept most of the PSU attempts out wide.

M: Penn State 1 at Holy Cross 4

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // GoHolyCross.com recap

Guy Gadowsky postgame // Holy Cross F Jake Youso postgame

Despite the personal issues that popped up Saturday to cancel a planned live blog, I was able to watch what, in too many ways to count, was a pretty ugly loss for the Nittany Lions to drop the team's record to 7-8-0 (5-6-0 NCAA DI). Rather than string together some thoughts in a traditional recap, I decided to reproduce my tweets during the game because...

• I don't want to think about it any more than I have to.
• It's something different.
• It's probably a more accurate reflection of my thoughts than anything I'd manage to write later.
• It's early Monday morning as I'm typing this and PSU (thankfully) has another game Tuesday.
• You can check the links above to fill in the fine detail and don't really need me to do that.

Enjoy.

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M: Penn State 5 at Army 0

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // GoArmySports.com recap

GoPSUSports.com Guy Gadowsky postgame video

So...any questions?

Actually, I have a couple. They're not quite the same ones I had just one week ago following the disaster at Buffalo State, though. Then, they sounded like "is NCAA Penn State actually going to lose to an ACHA team?" Now, they're more along the lines of "just how good is this team?"

Flattening Army (1-3-1, 1-0-1 Atlantic Hockey) 5-0 at West Point's Tate Rink Friday night in front of 1,537 fans represents an entirely new level for the Nittany Lions (3-2-0, 3-1-0 NCAA DI...and yes, I'm going to keep giving the record that way). That's not meant to disparage the stunning victory over RIT last Saturday, but that result was something that's always on the table when the strength of the two opponents is within a certain margin. This feels different. It wasn't squeaking out an overtime win over one of the worst programs in DI. It wasn't surviving a shot count of nearly 2-1 against to escape with an upset. It was, in fact, a blowout for PSU. Quite an unexpected one, based on what the prognosticators had to say.

There was no video stream available for those of us not able to make the trip, forcing an unhealthy reliance on statistics and brief recaps. But judging from those two things, there's very little not to like.

The Nittany Lions got contributions from many of the usual sources. P.J. Musico, named the starting goalie by Guy Gadowsky this week after an early-season rotation with Matt Skoff, justified the coach's move with a 34-save shutout, the first in PSU's NCAA history. The line that includes Kenny Brooks and Curtis Loik flanking David Glen was once again outstanding, with Brooks' first collegiate goal opening the game's scoring and Glen capping it in the third period. Big sniper Casey Bailey had a goal and a pair of assists to lead all point producers.

Sophomore goaltender P.J. Musico picked up where he left off last Saturday against RIT - and ended up with the first shutout in Penn State's NCAA history.

One unexpected contribution came from sophomore defenseman Pete Sweetland, who notched a goal and an assist in his first game of the season.

The description of how Penn State's goals developed in the GoPSUSports.com recap is more than adequate, so I'll defer to that here.

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[At 9:15 of the first period], following a neutral zone transition, Glen found classmate Curtis Loik entering the offensive zone. Loik took the puck wide and passed to Brooks near the slot, where he fired a shot to the right of [Army goalie Rob] Tadazak.

Penn State notched three goals in the second period to take a 4-0 lead. [Jonathan] Milley doubled the Nittany Lion advantage with a power-play marker at 2:36. Bailey passed to Milley in the slot, where the Gatineau, Que., native's first attempt was blocked before he floated the rebound over Tadazak for the goal.

With 7:16 left in the stanza, Sweetland tallied his first goal of the season. The defenseman received a pass from Bailey at the blue line and sent a shot toward the cage that deflected off an Army defenseman and into the back of the net.

Bailey gave Penn State a 4-0 lead just 1:12 later. Junior defenseman Nate Jensen carried the puck down the right-wing boards and sent a backhanded, backdoor pass to Bailey for his third marker of the season.

In the third period, Glen tallied with 15:53 remaining. Sweetland made an outlet pass through the neutral zone to Glen, who carried the puck into the offensive zone before firing a shot low for his third marker of the season.

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Bailey actually had a chance to add a second goal when he was selected to take a penalty shot with five minutes remaining in the game after Army goalie Ryan Leets (in the game for the pulled Tadazak) threw his stick at the puck. Leets atoned for his mistake by stopping the attempt.

It's always dangerous to start applying the transitive property in sports, but fueled partly by the sort of hubris that follows a big win, let's do it anyway.

On October 13th at the IceBreaker tournament in Kansas City, Army lost to Maine 5-4. Tadazak made 50 saves on 54 shots to keep his team close while the Black Knights made 24 attempts on Maine's goal. The day before, Nebraska-Omaha topped the Knights 5-1 in a nationally-televised game that featured a shot count of 38-18 in favor of the Mavericks.

Maine and UNO were both middle-of-the-pack picks in Hockey East and the WCHA, the two toughest conferences college hockey has to offer (to be fair to the comparison, the Black Bears are off to an atrocious start, as Army is the only team they have beaten so far). Penn State topped the Black Knights 5-0 with a 45-34 shot advantage at West Point.

Of course, much like the win over RIT last weekend washed (most of) the taste of the Buffalo State game away, the gains made Friday night could easily fall by the wayside without a strong effort Saturday night, when the Gadowsky road show makes its way to Milford, CT and a 7:05 p.m. puck drop at Sacred Heart. A win there though, and two more against DIII opposition (Tuesday at Fredonia, next Saturday's rematch with BSC)...well, we'll get there when we get there. But at this moment in time, the Nittany Lions look like an outfit capable of exceeding all reasonable expectations.

10/20 Postgame: Gadowsky, Gardiner, Musico

Comments from head coach Guy Gadowsky, sophomore forward Max Gardiner and sophomore goaltender P.J. Musico following the Nittany Lions' 3-2 win over RIT Saturday night.

M: Penn State 3 at RIT 2

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // RITAthletics.com recap

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle recap // Rochester Democrat & Chronicle photos
USCHO recap // Daily Collegian recap

Shortly after Penn State (2-2-0) stunned RIT (1-2-0, 0-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena before a homecoming crowd of 10,556, Guy Gadowsky cracked a joke: "well, we split, didn't we?"

That one-liner, of course, references the fact that the Nittany Lions were expected by most to handily beat Division III Buffalo State on Friday night but lose to RIT when things, shockingly, ended up going the other way around. PSU certainly isn't the first team to follow an unexpected loss with an unexpected win, although they may have set some sort of record for distance covered between the two games. Buff State is a middling DIII program. RIT went to the Frozen Four in 2010 and won in Ann Arbor last weekend. Considering all factors and on paper, the weekend opener was one of the ten easiest games on PSU's schedule, while Saturday night was easily one of the ten most difficult.

Of all the differences - toss the team's play, the opponent's compete level and the officiating in there too, naturally - maybe the most significant is the feeling one got following the final horn on each night. After Buffalo State, the Nittany Lions could lose any game, maybe even including those against ACHA teams. After RIT, all things seem possible. Union? Air Force? Michigan State? Wisconsin? Sure, why not?

I'll leave the finer points of the match's events to the recaps above and the live blog below, but suffice it to say that October 20, 2012, the Nittany Lions arrived as an NCAA Division I team. Emphasis not just on "Division I," but on "team" as well - from P.J. Musico and his 40 saves, to Nate Jensen and his denial (in my judgment) of two goals with timely blocks and stick jams, to the continued grit from David Glen and his linemates, to the necessary offense from Max Gardiner and Casey Bailey, to everyone who stepped on the ice during the last 4:13 of the game when PSU had to kill a George Saad checking from behind major while clinging to a one-goal advantage - the entire roster contributed to this in some important way.

No, it wasn't PSU's DI debut, and it wasn't even the first win. But this feels different. Somehow more legitimate. Few programs in DI would have any issue with AIC at home (or a de facto home). RIT, on the other hand, gives most reason for concern, including Michigan last week, St. Lawrence and Cornell in previous homecoming games, and Denver and New Hampshire in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Beating RIT, simply put, is a quality win by any program's measure. Here's to many more.

Penn State-Buffalo State Photo Gallery

Since I didn't produce a live blog or have access to postgame comments (due to a lack of wifi at the rink and going credential-free for this tilt), I figured the least I could do was take a few photos. Click any of them to enlarge.

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First up is Rockwell Hall, home to BSC's School of Arts and Humanities and by far the nicest building on a pretty utilitarian campus.

This is the exterior to the Buffalo State Ice Arena, which is actually part of a larger sports arena complex that also includes BSC's basketball gym.

The game was the season opener for the Bengals, and they were pretty excited about that fact.

Here's Matt Skoff making a save during warmups.

And another of Skoff...turns out goalies are easier to photograph than most players.

I made a few attempts at skaters anyway - this is Tommy Olczyk (carrying puck) during warmups, along with Nate Jensen (24), Taylor Holstrom (28) and Brian Dolan (25).

Here are the Nittany Lions emerge from the locker room before the start of the first period. The nice thing about small rinks is that they let you go almost anywhere. I probably could have walked back into the room if I wanted.

Shortly after that, the team lined up for the starters and national anthem...

...followed by the opening faceoff. As far as I could tell, everything was still going well at this point.

Buff State brought a large and enthusiastic crowd, but one that also came with several Jerry Sandusky-related signs, at least one of which was confiscated by police.

Here's what was a fairly common sight during the game - discussion of a penalty call. The PSU players are George Saad (left) and David Glen (right).

The Penn State bench. P.J. Musico (1) and Mark Yanis (5) are in the foreground while coaches Guy Gadowsky and Matt Lindsay study the action.

Because faceoffs are the goalies of game action, here's another one. David Glen (11) and Curtis Loik (15) are the two Nittany Lions, while Buffalo State goalie Kevin Carr ended up with a 35-save shutout.