Three Stars: August 26-September 1

3. Women’s Hockey: Freshmen excited to begin
(The Daily Collegian)

A sure sign that the season is almost upon us: the Collegian is back at it on a regular basis. This article, which takes an overview of women's team freshmen Laura Bowman, Kelly Seward, Amy Petersen and Sarah Nielsen, is a great way to get the fall semester going.

2. Steinour reflects on his career in "Hockey Valley"
(Stack The Pads)

On the other end of the career curve, of course, is recently-graduated men's forward Eric Steinour. What's Big Stein up to now? Something that sounds a little more difficult than writing a hockey blog:

I am working for Affiliated Engineers in Chapel Hill, NC as a Mechanical Systems Designer. Affiliated Engineers is a multi-discipline technical consulting firm. The team I am a part of is specifically involved in designing steam and chilled water plants and distribution systems. We design new systems as well as redesign existing systems to be more efficient. Many of our clients are universities and medical facilities.

1. A Look Inside The Pegula Ice Arena
(Onward State)

Not a particularly tough call this week, as the fruit of Onward State's all-access look inside the arena is the most extensive peek we've received since the ice was installed.

Best of the Rest

@kingston1990
(Twitter)

Amazing? Horrifying? I suspect that there's very little middle ground on this one, as tends to be the case with tattoos.

Also, apropos of nothing, Runnin' With The Dogs is both the worst college hockey blog out there and written by the biggest tool out there.

University Park Alumni Athlete Letter
(ps4rs.org)

Alumni activist group Penn Staters For Responsible Stewardship - an organization drawing even fewer middle-ground opinions than most tattoos - has assembled a list of former PSU student-athletes who support the lawsuit brought by the Paterno family (as well as several faculty and Board of Trustees members) against the NCAA over... well, you know. Hockey's sole representative is former Icers captain Ryan Wick, a 2000 graduate.

Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center to Host 40 2014 NHL Draft-Eligible Players
(USA Hockey)

Last Monday, USA Hockey unveiled the players who will participate in the second annual CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, which will take place on the 26th in Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center. Freshman goalie Eamon McAdam participated in last year's inaugural edition of the draft showcase in Buffalo as part of his push to the 70th overall pick. However, there will be no repeat participation by a Penn State commit, as well-regarded defenseman Kevin Kerr was surprisingly snubbed.

On a related note, if anyone needs a hotel room in Pittsburgh on September 26th, let me know in the comments.

Penn State hockey gets new voice
(The Daily Collegian)

In other "yay, the Collegian's back" news, new men's beat writer Darian Somers - you'll like him, trust me - takes a run at Brian Tripp, the team's new radio voice. Tripp replaces Steve Penstone who, contrary to the verbiage used in the article, was let go this offseason.

The Old NHL, Penn State Hockey, and Your FGSB Mailbag
(The 700 Level)

In response to someone asking how badly Penn State is going to get spanked this year:

Penn State’s move to The Big Ten is quite a big deal, especially for their hockey team, which I’m sure everyone knows went D1 last year. Their first year in D1 they were independent and actually didn’t do too badly for a really young team. On the official roster there were 14 freshman, 6 sophomores, and 7 juniors. Hey, you when go from club team to the big leagues that transition is going to take some time. With this young team they took down some big clubs in Wisconsin, Vermont, and Michigan State. The realignment has everyone saying they’re going to get whooped up on. On paper it looks like it, but I’m not so sure.

Penn State’s new conference is made up of them, obviously, and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. Those are some perennial power houses in the college hockey world, but Penn State is looking to be better than last year. They have their first ever NHL draft picks joining the program this season, and as you can see above have already done surprisingly decent with the guys that are ALL coming back this year (they went 13-14 last season).

Well done, guy.

UC Men's Hockey Dawes Exits Program For Position With Penn State's Women's Team
(uticaod.com)

It seems as if new women's team director of operations Alex Dawes will be missed in the neighborhood of Utica College, his previous employer. Seriously, I probably won't even get a write up this flattering when I die.

Onward State Cribs: Campus Towers
(Onward State)

Ever wonder what the apartment of women's forwards Katie Murphy and Shannon Yoxheimer (and their roommates) looks like? Onward State's new Cribs series has you covered. Since it's way nicer than my place, I would've been okay not finding out about it.

Condon, Rau Named Gopher Hockey Captains
(gophersports.com)

Leading off the opponent news section of Three Stars this week are the new captains of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, senior forward Nate Condon and junior forward Kyle Rau. Both are NHL draft picks, in 2008 by Colorado and in 2011 by Florida, respectively. Of course, you can't swing a dead cat at Minnesota's roster without hitting three or four draftees, so I'm not sure of that fact's newsworthiness.

Gophers hockey player Guertler suspended
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Incoming Gophers freshman Gabe Guertler, on the other hand, is not off to a good start if he wants to be a captain someday. Guertler received a DWI while operating a moped Friday night/Saturday morning and has been suspended by the team until at least November.

Judge throws out Milo’s case against Vermont, Sneddon
(USCHO)

Score one for common sense as former Vermont Catamount Justin Milo's "waaaah they cut me... no fair!" lawsuit against UVM and coach Kevin Sneddon has been thrown out.

RITMHKY
(Ow.ly)

RIT's men unveiled a new jersey last week. It's a throwback to the school's inaugural 1968 design, but with modern logos. Solid concept and well executed.

Former Laker Jones Picked 3rd Overall in CWHL Draft
(hurstathletics.com)

Brian Selected in Second Round of CWHL Draft
(rmuathletics.com)

Two Former Orange Selected by Toronto Furies
(suathletics.syr.edu)

Last week's Canadian Women's Hockey League draft was pretty good for College Hockey America, led by former Mercyhurst star Jess Jones, who was chosen third overall by the Brampton Thunder. Robert Morris goalie Delayne Brian (formerly of Wayne State as well, leaving there when WSU's program folded) was the first pick of the second round by the Alberta Honeybadgers, and a pair of Toronto Furies-drafted Syracuse alumnae, Holly Carrie-Mattimoe (second round) and Lisa Mullan (eighth round) closed things out for the conference.

Jones and Mullan both graduated from their schools in 2012 and never faced Penn State. Carrie-Mattimoe, however, had two goals and two assists in four games against PSU as a senior last year. Brian backstopped the Colonials' 4-1 win at the Ice Pavilion on November 11, 2012 with 19 saves and backed up Kristen DiCiocco in the other three PSU-RMU meetings.

Eight Hockey East teams to compete in Frozen Fenway
(New England Hockey Journal)

If you're the type of person who still gets excited by outdoor hockey not involving your favorite team, good news: the annual Frozen Fenway series is returning in January. Penn State opponents Boston College and UMass-Lowell are both among the eight Hockey East teams involved in the event hosted by the famous home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox.

KSU Levies Lifetime Ban Against Coaching Staff
(hockeyyall.com)

While details of the alcohol-related tomfoolery of Kennesaw State at the ACHA Division 3 national championships back in March have not come to light, it must have been a pretty good time. Last we checked in, KSU had suspended the team for the entire 2012-2013 season. Now, it's banned the coaching staff for life. Even Jerry Sandusky can, theoretically anyway, outlive his sentence. Not so much if you're affiliated with Kennesaw State and get bombed at a hockey tournament, I guess.

Former Cal U. hockey players headed to trial
(Washington Observer-Reporter)

In other #ACHAProblems, former California (PA) hockey playing brothers/marijuana aficionados Steven and Jesse Powell waived their preliminary hearings and will stand trial. As you may recall, the Powells' arrests back in April led to Cal's suspension of the entire Vulcans hockey program, a sanction that was eventually lifted under the condition of required drug testing.

While the incident is obviously tailor made for jokes, I'll pass this time around. Instead, I think it needs to be said that Cal has handled the whole thing flawlessly from day one (in my view, anyway), and the university deserves to be commended for that.

@BattistaJoseph
(Twitter)

Guy Gadowsky ran in the inaugural Mt. Nittany Marathon on Sunday. Which is notable in and of itself, but as an added bonus, it led to another look at Penn State's new white jerseys, via Nate Jensen's Twitter.

The Show on the Road

Here are three things I know to be true:

1. Tickets for the inaugural season at Pegula Ice Arena are in high demand, with men's season tickets and student sales not leaving too much behind for single-game availability.
2. Penn Staters are everywhere, and sometimes "everywhere" isn't particularly convenient to State College. I, for example, live closer to eleven 2013-2014 Nittany Lions away games than I do to Hockey Valley.
3. Many people like to travel and learn about unfamiliar people, places and things.

With those in mind, I've collected as much information as I could find about tickets to PSU's away games this year. Sure, the secondary market (StubHub and eBay, most notably) is always an option - one you may have to pursue if you want to see that shimmering arena and didn't get season tickets - but why pay the markup for an away game if you can get in on the primary market?

In some ways, this post isn't ripe yet, as several schools have not announced sale dates or prices for single-game tickets. But at the same time, several others are already or about to be on sale (Robert Morris men and women, RIT women, Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff and Big Ten Tournament), so delay would be harmful in those cases. Therefore, the plan is to update this post and re-circulate it as appropriate.

Tickets to see Matt Skoff and the men's team play at Wisconsin will be available September 24th

Men

Air Force When: Oct. 18 and 19 Where: Cadet Ice Arena; Colorado Springs, CO On-sale date: Early Oct. Athletics website: goairforcefalcons.com Ticket office phone: (719) 472-1895 Ticket office email: afa.tickets@airforceathletics.org 2012-13 attendance: 2,220 (2,470)	Vermont When: Oct. 26 Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia On-sale date: Available now Prices: $40, $25, $20, $15, $12, $10 Link to purchase Ticket office phone: (800) 298-4200 Ticket office email: customerservice@neweratickets.com 2012-13 attendance: 19,529 (19,529)
Robert Morris When: Nov. 1 Where: 84 Lumber Arena, Neville Twp. On-sale date: Available now Prices: $12, $10, $5 Link to purchase Athletics website: rmucolonials.com Ticket office phone: (412) 397-4949 Ticket office email: athleticticketing@rmu.edu 2012-13 attendance: 858 (1,100)	Wisconsin When: Dec. 6 and 7 Where: Kohl Center; Madison, WI On-sale date: Sept. 24 Prices: $24, $20 Athletics website: uwbadgers.com Ticket office phone: (800) GO BADGERS Ticket office email: tickets@uwbadgers.com 2012-13 attendance: 9,521 (15,237)
Three Rivers Classic When: Dec. 27 and 28 Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh On-sale date: Not yet announced Prices: $55-$25 (last year) Ticket office phone: (800) 745-3000 2012-13 attendance: 11,230 (18,387)	Michigan State When: Jan. 17 and 18, 2014 Where: Munn Arena; East Lansing, MI On-sale date: Oct. 1 Prices: $22, $20, $10 Athletics website: msuspartans.com Ticket office phone: (800) GO STATE Ticket office email: tickets@msu.edu 2012-13 Attendance: 5,869 (6,470)
Ohio State When: Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2014 Where: Value City Arena; Columbus, OH On-sale date: Not yet announced Prices: $13, $10 (last year) Athletics website: ohiostatebuckeyes.com Ticket office phone: (800) GOBUCKS Ticket office email: AthleticSales@osu.edu 2012-13 attendance: 4,004 (17,500)	Michigan When: Feb. 21 and 22, 2014 Where: Yost Ice Arena; Ann Arbor, MI On-sale date: Not yet announced Athletics website: mgoblue.com Ticket office phone: (866) 296-MTIX Ticket office email: mtickets@umich.edu 2012-13 attendance: 5,357 (6,637)
Minnesota When: Feb. 28 and Mar. 1, 2014 Where: Mariucci Arena; Minneapolis, MN On-sale date: Not yet announced Athletics website: gophersports.com Ticket office phone: (800) 846-7437 Ticket office email: fans@gopherfanrelations.com 2012-13 attendance: 9,950 (10,000)	Big Ten Tournament When: Mar. 20 through 22, 2014 Where: Xcel Energy Center; St. Paul, MN On-sale date: Available now* Prices: $160, $130, $80 (five games) Link to purchase Ticket office phone: (800) 745-3000 * all-session passes are available now, single-game availability is still TBA

On September 23rd, tickets to see Shannon Yoxheimer and the women open at Vermont go on sale

Women

Vermont When: Oct. 4 and 5 Where: Gutterson Fieldhouse; Burlington, VT On-sale date: Sept. 23 Prices: $5, $3, free (2 and under) Athletics website: uvmathletics.com Ticket office phone: (802) 656-4410 Ticket office email: athletic.tickets@uvm.edu 2012-13 attendance: 348 (4,035)	Quinnipiac When: Oct. 11 and 12 Where: TD Bank Center; Hamden, CT On-sale date: Oct. 1 Athletics website: quinnipiacbobcats.com Ticket office phone: (203) 582-3905 Ticket office email: tickets@quinnipiac.edu 2012-13 attendance: 310 (3,084)
RIT When: Nov. 15 and 16 Where: Ritter Arena; Henrietta, NY On-sale date: Aug. 20 Prices: $5, $3, free (5 and under) Link to purchase Athletics website: ritathletics.com Ticket office phone: (585) 475-4121 Ticket office email: jazgfh@rit.edu 2012-13 attendance: 650 (2,100)	Lindenwood When: Nov. 22 and 23 Where: LU Ice Arena; Wentzville, MO Prices: $5, $3 Tickets only available at the door on game day Athletics website: lindenwoodlions.com 2012-13 attendance: 113 (1,000)
Mercyhurst When: Dec. 6 and 7 Where: Mercyhurst Ice Arena, Erie Prices: $5, $3 Tickets only available at the door on game day Athletics website: hurstathletics.com 2012-13 attendance: 574 (1,300)	Ohio State When: Jan. 3 and 4, 2014 Where: OSU Ice Rink; Columbus, OH Free admission Athletics website: ohiostatebuckeyes.com 2012-13 attendance: 326 (1,200)
Syracuse When: Jan. 24 and 25, 2014 Where: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion; Syracuse, NY Free admission Athletics website: suathletics.com 2012-13 attendance: 164 (350)	Princeton When: Jan. 28th, 2014 Where: Hobey Baker Rink; Princeton, NJ Free admission Athletics website: goprincetontigers.com 2012-13 attendance: 167 (2,100)
Robert Morris When: Feb. 21 and 22, 2014 Where: 84 Lumber Arena, Neville Twp. On-sale date: Available now Prices: $10, $5 Link to purchase Athletics website: rmucolonials.com Ticket office phone: (412) 397-4949 Ticket office email: athleticticketing@rmu.edu 2012-13 attendance: 170 (1,100)

Stacked NCAA Women's Schedule Announced

Hannah Hoenshell and the Nittany Lions once again host Mercyhurst on February 15th and 16th, 2014

Penn State has officially announced its second-ever NCAA women's slate, and the first at the Pegula Ice Arena. Without further delay, here it is (* denotes College Hockey America games):

Date	Time	Opponent	Location
Fri. Oct. 4	7:00 p.m.	at Vermont	Gutterson Fieldhouse // Burlington, VT
Sat. Oct. 5	3:00 p.m.	at Vermont	Gutterson Fieldhouse // Burlington, VT
Fri. Oct. 11	TBA	at Quinnipiac	TD Bank Sports Center // Hamden, CT
Sat. Oct. 12	TBA	at Quinnipiac	TD Bank Sports Center // Hamden, CT
Fri. Oct. 18	7:00 p.m.	Union	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Oct. 19	2:00 p.m.	Union	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Oct. 26	7:00 p.m.	New Hampshire	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Oct. 27	2:00 p.m.	New Hampshire	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Thu. Oct. 31	7:00 p.m.	Robert Morris*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Nov. 1	4:00 p.m.	Robert Morris*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Nov. 9	2:00 p.m.	Syracuse*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Nov. 10	2:00 p.m.	Syracuse*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Nov. 15	7:00 p.m.	at RIT*	Ritter Ice Arena // Henrietta, NY
Sat. Nov. 16	7:00 p.m.	at RIT*	Ritter Ice Arena // Henrietta, NY
Fri. Nov. 22	TBA	at Lindenwood*	Lindenwood Ice Arena // St. Charles, MO
Sat. Nov. 23	TBA	at Lindenwood*	Lindenwood Ice Arena // St. Charles, MO
Sat. Nov. 30	2:00 p.m.	Maine	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Dec. 6	3:00 p.m.	at Mercyhurst*	Mercyhurst Ice Center // Erie, PA
Sat. Dec. 7	2:00 p.m.	at Mercyhurst*	Mercyhurst Ice Center // Erie, PA
Fri. Jan. 3	7:00 p.m.	at Ohio State	OSU Ice Rink // Columbus, OH
Sat. Jan. 4	7:00 p.m.	at Ohio State	OSU Ice Rink // Columbus, OH
Fri. Jan. 10	7:00 p.m.	Colgate	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Jan. 11	2:00 p.m.	Colgate	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Jan. 24	TBA	at Syracuse*	Tennity Ice Pavilion // Syracuse, NY
Sat. Jan. 25	TBA	at Syracuse*	Tennity Ice Pavilion // Syracuse, NY
Tue. Jan. 28	7:00 p.m.	at Princeton	Hobey Baker Memorial Rink // Princeton, NJ
Fri. Jan. 31	7:00 p.m.	RIT*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 1	2:00 p.m.	RIT*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 8	2:00 p.m.	Lindenwood*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Feb. 9	2:00 p.m.	Lindenwood*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 15	2:00 p.m.	Mercyhurst*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Feb. 16	1:00 p.m.	Mercyhurst*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Feb. 21	TBA	at Robert Morris*	Island Sports Center // Neville Twp., PA
Sat. Feb. 22	TBA	at Robert Morris*	Island Sports Center // Neville Twp., PA

The CHA Tournament, once again, will be played entirely at campus sites. The sixth-place team and the fifth-place team will travel, respectively, to play the teams finishing third and fourth in the standings for a pair of best-of-three series over the February 28th through March 2nd weekend. The winners then will travel to the home of the CHA regular-season champion to meet the top two seeds for the semifinals (March 6th) and championship game (March 8th).

In a nice touch, a video was produced with head coach Josh Brandwene's comments concerning the schedule, so let's work that in here. Seriously, it's 3:16 long, not the usual throwaway for an occasion like this, so get on it.



The schedule takes on a decidedly streaky flavor, with an early eight-game homestand between October 18th and November 10th followed immediately by a run of eight away games in nine overall between November 15th and January 4th. The Nittany Lions will also play 60 percent of their CHA home games during a late-season stretch at the Pegula Ice Arena between January 31st and February 16th.

The 14 out-of-conference games show that, once and for all, the kid gloves are off - the likes of Division III Chatham and Division I (kind of) Sacred Heart have been replaced by a solid collection of Hockey East and ECAC schools like Quinnipiac, New Hampshire, Maine and Colgate. QU's women, much like their male counterparts, have enjoyed a rather quick ascendancy under head coach Rick Seeley. The Bobcats won just three times in 2008-2009, but haven't won fewer than 19 since then. A big part of that success has been senior forward Kelly Babstock, who scored 28 goals among her 55 points last season, good for 8th and 11th in the nation. New Hampshire finished an uncharacteristic 14-16-4 last season, but the 1998 AWCHA national champs remain a traditional power and feature sophomore defender Alexis Crossley, an all-Hockey East selection last season and a gold medalist with Team Canada at the 2012 Women's U18 World Championships.

Other Hockey East (Vermont) and ECAC (Union, Princeton) opponents will reprise their slots on last year's schedule. The Nittany Lions went 1-4-0 against that collection of teams in 2012-2013, with the win a historic 5-3 triumph at UVM last October 6th in the program's first NCAA game behind two Micayla Catanzariti goals. Union is also a notable opponent for the presence of star goalie Shenae Lundberg who, like Crossley, owns a gold medal from the Women's U18 World Championships (2011, Team USA) and who also played for PSU assistant Casey McCullion at Deerfield Academy in 2007-2008.

In her second straight season opener at UVM, Micayla Catanzariti will aim for a repeat of last year's win

Ohio State will become the first-ever WCHA opponent for the Nittany Lions, and of course is an exciting addition for that university's status as Penn State's biggest rival over the last couple decades. The Buckeyes - who interestingly enough, have been rumored to join the CHA off and on in the past - finished 19-15-3 last year and are decidedly on the rise under former Robert Morris coach Nate Handrahan. Perhaps even more impressively than any of their wins, OSU managed to hang within two goals of Minnesota on February 9th. The Gophers were undefeated (41-0-0) national champions last season, and featured Patty Kazmeier Award winner Amanda Kessel, so yeah, that's actually kind of good. Ohio State did register wins over titans Wisconsin (3-1 on November 17th) and North Dakota (5-3 on October 12th) and will certainly be one of the Nittany Lions' biggest tests to date.

CHA contests, of course, remain the bulk of the schedule, and after seeing the five league opponents for the first time last year, it's pretty safe to say that the conference is stronger than its ever been as it looks to gain an NCAA Tournament autobid for 2014-2015. Mercyhurst re-asserted itself as the dominant team by winning both the regular season and conference championships and adding their usual NCAA appearance in 2012-2013 after Robert Morris stunned the Lakers to win the CHA Tournament two seasons ago. Syracuse emerged as a top-tier team, finishing second in both the standings and the playoffs. Along with Penn State, RIT and Lindenwood joined up as part of their transitions to NCAA Division I and were both highly competitive. The Lions were particularly notable in that regard, as they suddenly started chipping off big victories over the second half of the season (a sweep of RMU and a win at Syracuse to name three) after a 10-44-1 start to their time in DI that included only three wins against DI competition.

Beyond the schedule, Penn State also reiterated ticket information for the inaugural Pegula Ice Arena season:

Tickets for the inaugural Pegula Ice Arena season can be purchased in a season ticket package ($50) for all 17 games or on a game day basis of $5 by calling 1-800-NITTANY (648-8269) or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office.

Seating at Pegula Ice Arena will be general admission in the lower bowl. A Nittany Lion Club donation is not required for season tickets. Students will be free to all regular-season games, while men's hockey premium season ticket holders in the loge, club and suite levels will receive complimentary women's hockey season tickets.

I'll go ahead and say it: $50 for a front row seat (if you get there early enough, see the general admission thing) to Penn State's home schedule might be the best deal in sports.

Women's Games Revealed Against Syracuse, UNH

Taylor Gross and PSU will look for a first win vs. Allie LaCombe and Syracuse on November 9th

With 2013-2014 men's hockey schedules across NCAA Division I coming out almost daily and officially taking their first choice of dates and times at their schools' arenas, it seemed only natural that women's schedules would start to follow at some point. Welcome to "some point."

College Hockey America rival Syracuse - which I suppose didn't have to wait for the men, as the school has no NCAA men's program - released its 2013-2014 schedule on Wednesday. This, of course, also revealed 20 percent of Penn State's conference schedule:

Saturday, November 9, 2013: Syracuse at Penn State
Sunday, November 10, 2013: Syracuse at Penn State
Friday, January 24, 2014: Penn State at Syracuse
Saturday, January 25, 2014: Penn State at Syracuse

Last season, the Orange swept the season series from PSU, spoiling the Nittany Lions' first NCAA-era home games with a 10-0 weekend shutout before taking two more at the Tennity Ice Pavilion in January. SU finished a sturdy 20-15-1 overall and 13-6-1 in the CHA, good for second place in the league standings, and beat RIT 2-1 in overtime in the conference tournament semifinals before falling to Mercyhurst in the championship game. Leading scorer Holly Carrie-Mattimoe and ten-goal defender Jacquie Greco have departed, but the rest of the team, including Shiann Darkangelo (third in the CHA with 16 goals last season), Akane Hosoyamada (named the CHA's best blueliner for 2012-2013) and Kallie Billadeau (1.56 goals against average, 0.940 save percentage, all-CHA first team honors), returns. Without a doubt, Cuse will be title favorites entering the season alongside, as always, the Lakers.

In addition to the PSU-SU games, the Syracuse schedule announcement also shared the dates of the 2014 CHA Tournament. From February 28th through March 2nd, the sixth and fifth place teams will travel to play, respectively, the third and fourth place teams in a pair of best-of-three quarterfinal series. The two winners will then play the first and second place teams on the ice of the CHA's regular season champion on March 7th, with the winners of those semifinals meeting for the championship the next day.

Beyond Syracuse, and according to USCHO message board poster Hux (who is credible enough in my assessment for me to run with this news), Hockey East's New Hampshire will visit Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday, October 26th at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 27th at 2:00 p.m.

In UNH, the Nittany Lions will welcome (arguably and depending on the rest of the schedule, of course) the highest-caliber non-conference opponent to visit PSU so far. The Wildcats program has been around since 1977 and won the first women's national championship ever in 1998, sanctioned by the American Women's College Hockey Alliance ahead of the NCAA's involvement beginning in 2001. From 2006 through 2010, New Hampshire qualified for five straight NCAA Tournaments, and the program has won ten Hockey East regular season or tournament championships since 2004. While the Wildcats have fallen off of that form a bit in the last couple years - they went 14-16-4 overall and 10-8-3 in Hockey East in 2012-2013 - they'll look move back towards the top of DI behind sophomore defender Alexis Crossley and junior goaltender Jenn Gilligan, both of whom earned all-conference honors this past season.

High-powered Alexis Crossley will lead New Hampshire into Pegula Ice Arena in October

Crossley, in fact, has at least three biographical details in common with Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby: a hometown of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, a stop to play at Shattuck-St. Mary's and a gold medal-winning goal from a major international competition while wearing the maple leaf. In Crossley's case, that last distinction came from the 2012 Women's U18 World Championships, where she opened the scoring in a 3-0 shutout of Team USA to take the tournament. Not quite as dramatic as Crosby's OT-er at the Vancouver Olympics, but impressive nevertheless.

The major downside? The Saturday game more or less runs directly opposite the men's game against Vermont at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center, as well as the football team's game at Ohio State. Still, this will be an intriguing enough matchup and benchmarking opportunity to consider spending that evening with Josh Brandwene's squad.

Connecticut transfers Taylor Gross, Nicole Paniccia and Jenna Welch, incidentally, all have experience against their former league opponent while the trio played for the Huskies from 2010 through 2012. Welch played in all six games against UNH during her two seasons in Storrs, going 3-3-0 and potting a goal in a 6-3 UConn win on February 5, 2012. Paniccia made 20 saves in that contest to collect the victory, but backed up Alexandra Garcia in each of the other games. Gross was already a Lady Icer by that point, but she won twice against the Wildcats in three 2010-2011 meetings, assisting on the game's only goal on November 13, 2010 and scoring herself in a 2-1 triumph the next day.

As these are the first six confirmed 2013-2014 dates for the women, I've updated the W Schedules/Results page and will continue to do so until Penn State announces the full slate.

W: Penn State 1 at Syracuse 4

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // SUathletics.com recap

SUathletics.com photos

Former Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart once famously declared in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964) that "I know it when I see it." Stewart, as many of you may know, was speaking about hardcore pornography, but he just as easily could have been referring to the progress of the 2012-2013 Nittany Lions women's hockey team.

That progress, much like pornography, sometimes evades clear definition. On Saturday afternoon against Syracuse (14-11-1, 8-3-1 CHA) and repeating a pattern seen earlier in the season, Penn State (7-16-1, 1-10-1 CHA) was outshot 55-15. Things like scoring chances and zone time aren't available, but I imagine the proportions would be similar. But that's rarely the whole story, and it certainly wasn't this time around.

Taylor Gross helps Celine Whitlinger defend the PSU net from Syracuse's Allie LaCombe.

The simple fact is this: but for a late empty-net goal by Julie Knerr of Syracuse, PSU outscored the Orange over the last 48:30 of the game. The 1-0 margin was thanks to Jill Holdcroft - Does she have a fan club? If so, I want in - the scrappy State High alumna. Holdcroft, in adding the icing to a fantastic weekend, took a feed from Shannon Yoxheimer after a nice play at the line, swooped in on SU goalie Jenesica Drinkwater, and scored on her own rebound after the initial shot was saved.

Syracuse, of course, won the game with three early goals. First Nicole Ferrara put back a Margot Scharfe rebound just as an early penalty expired, then Kallie Goodnough rippled twine off of a loose puck kicked back into the slot, and finally, Jacquie Greco made it 3-0 early on a power play one-timer. The Orange also built an early 9-0 shots lead during the scoring run.

Penn State's mental toughness won from that point on, though. Celine Whitlinger, who ended with 51 saves, shut the door the rest of the way. The defense generally reduced the quality of the chances by SU's talented top two lines (although Whitlinger was certainly spectacular when that wasn't the case). And PSU's offense, while not very prolific, did develop some opportunities.

The entire situation reminded me of two games earlier this season:

• On November 11th, Robert Morris jumped on PSU for three first-period goals at the Ice Pavilion. However, Nicole Paniccia shut things down from there, and Micayla Catanzariti's third-period goal provided a glimmer of hope in an eventual 4-1 loss.
• On December 1st at Mercyhurst, an early Taylor Gross blueline takeaway led to a Jess Desorcie rebound goal and first blood against the juggernaut Lakers, a lead that PSU held through the midpoint of the opening period.

Do those things, or the fact that the Nittany Lions scored against Syracuse after being shut out in the first three games of the season series, look like much on the outside? No, not really. But for those paying close attention, they're the type of glimmers that show a young program in development. I'll spare the tired cliche about crawling before walking before running, but it's true. Take any winning team in sports, look back to before it was a winning team, and I guarantee you'll find a set of milestones and moments - sometimes isolated games within seasons, sometimes isolated plays within games - that indicated they were on the right track. I'm a skeptic by nature and don't always pick them up as they're happening, but I'm seeing them with Penn State women's hockey.

Here's the live blog for the latest step in the journey:

W: Penn State 0 at Syracuse 1

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // SUathletics.com recap

SUathletics.com photos

The progress, while not always evident in the won-lost record, is there.

Consider the first meeting between Penn State (7-15-1, 1-9-1 CHA) and Syracuse (13-11-1, 7-3-1 CHA) this season. In PSU's first-ever NCAA home game on October 13th, the Orange jumped out of the gate with 28 first-period shots en route to a 4-0 win. SU's top six forwards, including Shiann Darkangelo, Holly Carrie-Mattimoe and Nicole Ferrara, skated almost unfettered through the Penn State zone, and it was only due to a heroic goaltending effort by Nicole Paniccia that the score wasn't much, much worse.

No, the Nittany Lions still have not scored against Syracuse this season. And, considering the shooting and territorial discrepancies in the game Friday night, it's slightly disingenuous to suggest that PSU "nearly turned the upset" against the Orange, as the GoPSUSports.com recap said, even with the 1-0 score. But, given how this latest affair played out, it is accurate to say that they are closer to doing so than they were in October. Under Josh Brandwene's "get better every day" mantra, that's good enough for now.

Kendra Rasmussen takes a draw against SU's Margot Scharfe

The obvious standout in the game was once again Paniccia, who was her usual spectacular self with 45 saves. She was only beaten once, by Nicole Renault's first career goal at the 6:49 mark of the first period. Renault, on the play, took a pass from Melissa Piacentini just inside the blue line, carried down the middle, and veered to the right just in front of Paniccia before firing home.

Penn State certainly had chances of their own. Jill Holdcroft was once again feisty and disruptive, creating havoc deep in the Syracuse zone, while Shannon Yoxheimer - who had an outstanding third period - Micayla Catanzariti and Hannah Hoenshell also had notable close calls. With 44 seconds remaining in the game, Brandwene used his timeout to get Paniccia to the bench, and consecutive faceoff wins led to attempts on net by Yoxheimer and Jordin Pardoski, but the former was blocked and the latter missed, allowing the Orange to run out the clock.

Speaking of blocked shots, junior Jenna Welch was once again Paniccia's best friend, stepping in front of several SU attempts, notably in the third period.

While Saturday's rematch at 2:00 p.m. is the obvious target for redemption, it might also be appropriate to take a look ahead to the CHA playoffs during the first weekend in March. Although current second-place Syracuse is three points clear of Robert Morris, it's still entirely possible that Penn State will head back to Tennity Ice Pavilion for the 3-6 first round matchup. At the rate the Nittany Lions improved from October to January, is anyone betting against PSU for that hypothetical matchup with the Orange in five weeks?

Here's the live blog from a tough, yet encouraging, loss:

10/14 Postgame: Josh Brandwene, Jenna Welch, Micayla Catanzariti, Paul Flanagan

Comments from head coach Josh Brandwene, junior forward Jenna Welch, freshman forward Micayla Catanzariti and Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan following the Nittany Lions' 6-0 loss to Syracuse Sunday afternoon.

W: Penn State 0 vs. Syracuse 6

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // SUAthletics.com recap

The Nittany Lion women (1-3-0, 0-2-0 CHA) were unable to collect a win - or score, for that matter - this weekend against Syracuse (2-2-0, 2-0-0 CHA), who completed a sweep at the Ice Pavilion with a 6-0 win Sunday afternoon.

It could be argued that Penn State actually played better on Sunday than they did in Saturday's 4-0 loss. Certainly, PSU defended better in the first period, holding Syracuse to a 15-6 shot advantage after a 28-3 margin in Saturday's opening 20 minutes. Ultimately though, it was the dominance of SU's top line combined with their ability to make Penn State pay most of the time the Lions committed a penalty that swung this game.

While Laurie Kingsbury's even-strength snipe off of a turnover late in the first period opened the scoring, the 2-0 goal came from Melissa Piacentini's second-chance effort with Micayla Catanzariti in the box on a hooking call. Margot Scharfe made it 3-0 one second after a Jess Desorcie hooking penalty expired in the third period, and Holly Carrie-Mattimoe took advantage of Tess Weaver's tripping penalty at the 6:07 mark of the third period via a one-timer from from Scharfe in the left-wing circle. Kingsbury and Scharfe both added second goals late after the game had become more or less academic. In all, Syracuse was 2-for-5 on the power play, although in practice it's fair to call it 3-for-5 thanks to the first Scharfe goal.

Kallie Billadeau earned the shutout for the Orange in her first start of the season with a 20-save effort. Shannon Yoxheimer, who was on the other end of literally half of those saves, and Jordin Pardoski, who helped neutralize a decided SU size advantage, stood out for Penn State.

W: Penn State 0 vs. Syracuse 4

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // SUAthletics.com recap

Nicole Paniccia was stellar in net with a career-best (and a PSU record, obviously) 53 saves, but Syracuse managed to get four pucks past her in a 4-0 SU win to spoil the Nittany Lion women's program's first NCAA home game and first College Hockey America game. Penn State is now 1-2-0 (0-1-0 CHA) while the Orange climbs to 1-2-0 (1-0-0 CHA) ahead of Sunday afternoon's rematch.

Paniccia was particularly outstanding in the first period, turning aside all 28 shots she faced to help PSU survive in a scoreless draw until intermission. Josh Brandwene and his staff adjusted well, however, and the Nittany Lions put together an fantastic second period - one in which PSU actually won the shot count, 14-13. However, almost as if the hockey gods were forcing PSU to repay a karmic debt built up during the first 20 minutes, Syracuse scored on two of those 13 to take all of the offense they would need back to the dressing room. Nicole Ferrara dented twine first off of a scramble in front at the 3:19 mark, and Melissa Piacentini added the Orange's second four minutes later. On that second goal, Shiann Darkangelo foiled a PSU rush at the line just as a Nittany Lion power play expired, then Caitlin Roach made a beatiful pass to get Piacentini in alone on Paniccia.

Nicole Paniccia makes one of her 53 saves. Photo: Steven Hass

Darkangelo got her own goal in the third period when she finished a rebound of a Laurie Kingsbury wraparound attempt - a down-and-out Paniccia very nearly stopped that one by tossing her glove at it. Orange captain Holly Carrie-Mattimoe completed the scoring with an unnecessary final tally with 46 seconds remaining in the game.

Neither team converted on the power play during the game, with PSU misfiring on all six attempts and Syracuse finishing 0-for-5.

The TYT Plan

As promised back when the men's and women's schedules both became official, I want to share some of my plans for the coming season with all of you.

First, the hard reality: I'm one guy, not a staff. I live in Ohio (a handicap in numerous ways, not just relating to this blog). Furthermore, I'm not exactly a wealthy man, in fact I'm your typically poor grad student at the moment. That's actually nice in some ways, as I generally have more free time to do this than I would otherwise. But again, one guy, out of state, limited finances, some restrictions on time.

This coming season is going to be fantastic, though. It's something for which we've waited for a long time, and I plan on being around it as much as possible. So here's what I'm thinking about how to approach the schedule.

Some quick definitions are in order. Basically, "live blog" means I'm parked at home in front of a computer, live-blogging the game on this site using the Cover It Live platform, as I did for most games last season. "Recaps" are only done as a last resort, generally in cases of conflict, or if I'm traveling somewhere else that weekend. They mean that, for whatever reason, I couldn't watch the game live, but of course I'll still present a summary of what happened. "Attending," obviously, means that I plan to be there. This will take the form of a live blog plus postgame quotes if I'm credentialed or a recap - hopefully something above and beyond typical - if I'm not (I can't promise that I'll be able to get media access everywhere).

Here's an example of each, if you're still not clear:

Attendance: M: Penn State 9 vs. Mercyhurst 1 // 2/11 Mercyhurst Postgame: Guy Gadowsky // 2/11 Mercyhurst Postgame: The Players
Live Blog: M: Penn State 4 vs. Oklahoma 3 (OT)
Recap: W: Penn State 5-2 vs. Liberty 1-3

Non-attendance live blogs are always conditional on my ability to procure a stream of the game. If I can't do that for whatever reason, those revert to simple recaps.

Kaillie Goodnough - a teammate of Emily Laurenzi's at NSA - will lead the Syracuse defense
into the Ice Pavilion on October 13th and 14th. Attending those games seems like a no-brainer.

Attending

October
12-14 Men vs. AIC (12th), Women vs. Syracuse (13th, 14th)
19-20 Men at DIII Buffalo State (19th), Men at RIT (20th)

November
9-11 Men vs. Air Force (9th, 10th), Women vs. Robert Morris (10th, 11th)
24-25 Men at Union
30-December 1 Women at Mercyhurst

December
28-29 Men at Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational

January
19 Men vs. Vermont in Philadelphia, PA
25-26 Men at Michigan State

February
8-9 Men vs. Alabama-Huntsville, Women vs. Lindenwood

March
1-3, 8-9 Women at CHA Tournament (for any possible location except Lindenwood - move any games at LU to "live blog")

Live Blogs

October
5-6 Women at Vermont
25-27 Women vs. RIT (25th), Men at Army (26th), Men at Sacred Heart (27th)
30 Men at DIII Fredonia State

November
2-3 Women vs. Sacred Heart, Men vs. DIII Buffalo State (3rd)
16-17 Women at Lindenwood

December
7-8 Men at Holy Cross (7th), Women at St. Lawrence (8th)
15 Men vs. Robert Morris

January
4-5 Men at Connecticut
11-12 Women at Union
15 Men vs. DIII Neumann
29 Women vs. Princeton

February
1-2 Men vs. ACHA Ohio, Women vs. Mercyhurst
15-16 Women at RIT
22-23 Women at Robert Morris
24-25 Men at Wisconsin

Recaps

October
13 Men vs. AIC in Wilkes-Barre, PA
19-20 Women at Sacred Heart
26 Women vs. RIT

November
30-December 1 Men vs. ACHA Arizona State

December
7-8 Women at St. Lawrence (7th), Men at Holy Cross (8th)

January
4-5 Women vs. DIII Chatham
11-12 Men vs. USNTDP
25-26 Women at Syracuse

February
15-16 Men vs. ACHA Oklahoma

Obviously, I reserve the right to alter or cancel any of this, right up until 30 seconds before puck drop. Sometimes I can't make planned trips, sometimes I can't watch the game, sometimes life gets in the way, sometimes my parents drop unbreakable plans on me with less than 24 hours notice, and sometimes I get burned out and just bail to get trashed <cough>11/19/2011 Delaware at PSU</cough>. But as of today, I do plan on completing all of this. It's an ambitious plan, but hey, this is a once-in-a-lifetime season. Here's how it all breaks down:

Attending: 14 men's games (5 home, 8 away, 1 neutral), 10+ women's games (6 home, 2 away, 2+ TBD)
Live Blogging: 13 men's games (5 home, 8 away), 17 women's games (6 home, 11 away)
Recapping: 8 men's games (7 home, 1 away), 8 women's games (3 home, 5 away)

On Thanksgiving weekend, hopefully, it will be all about the U.

I built the plan around attendance. Obviously, that first home weekend as well as the events in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are musts. RIT is a program I like a lot, and I wanted to make that trip from when the game was announced. Union, by last season's standards anyway, is the best team on the schedule and seems like an obvious trip. For the women, Mercyhurst is a day trip for me. I tried to cash in on the weekends where both teams would be home, with preference for strong opponents. Once I decided on that, I filled in live blogs for games where I'll theoretically be at home, moved the conflicts with travel to recaps, and hashed out whatever men's-women's conflicts remained after that.

Beyond all of that, I'm planning a weekly post to keep up with the Ice Lions, as well as the coming ACHA women's team. That's actually above and beyond what I did for them last season, when I'd generally just sneak the D2 into Three Stars, with the exception of a handful of live blogs. Should either team make it to ACHA nationals, I will live blog those games as well.

Speaking of Three Stars, that will still go up on Mondays. Commit Cycle will return (thankfully with fewer players to track, because those are hard to put together) during the season, although I'll suspend Breakout Past by the end of September much like I did through 2011-2012. And of course, news will be posted when news happens, which tends to be at the most inconvenient times possible.

The reason I'm putting this out there now? Quite simply, I wanted to get this big editorial decision out in the open as early as possible, because I want your feedback. Does this work for you? Is there somewhere I absolutely need to attend but don't plan to? Is there something special you want me to deliver from these new, strange things called DI rinks? Do you think I've undervalued a recap game that should instead be a live blog? Would you instead rather see more recaps and fewer live blogs (there certainly are valid reasons for that opinion)? Can you subsidize my travel expenses (joking...kind of)?

Three Stars: May 21-27

3. Black Hawks lose 5-2 in Clark Cup final
(wcfcourier.com)

2013 goalie Eamon McAdam, the last Penn State recruit to still be playing, now isn't thanks to his team's loss to Green Bay in the decisive game five of the USHL's Clark Cup finals (I suppose he'd be done either way, but whatever).

To be honest, I'm kind of glad the Black Hawks lost. Their winning would have put me in the awkward spot of having to write a post about McAdam winning a championship - awkward because he's Waterloo's backup and recorded zero minutes in the playoffs. Since his teammates lost, he just gets this. During the regular season, McAdam was 11-7-0 with a 3.50 goals against average and a 0.882 save percentage, helping Waterloo to third place in the Western Conference.

The pride of Perkasie, PA is the top returning goalie on what should be a strong team again next year, as starter Stephon Williams is headed to Minnesota State for the coming season.

2. Breaking Down Penn State's Inaugural D1 Hockey Schedule
(Black Shoe Diaries)

Penn State hockey releases inaugural Div. 1 schedule; Nittany Lions to play in Philly 
(Broad Street Hockey)

Unfortunately, there's not a ton out there on the schedule announcement offering more than a reshuffling of PSU's release, but I'll give BSD - whose entry was written by friend of TYT Nate Wells - and BSH shouts (like they need them from me) for these posts, which at least offer opinions like...

While the on-campus home games leave something to be desired - there are only six against D1 teams - Penn State's inaugural season had both challenges and winnable games alike. Playing 8 of the 12 Atlantic Hockey teams (arguably the weakest college hockey conference) will be a good barometer for the Lions early in the year while series against Big Ten foes Michigan State and Wisconsin will give motivation when they are conference rivals next year.

...and...

It shouldn't really be looked at as a negative: It's their first season in Division 1, they're going to be bad, and power schools don't want to play weak teams. It's just the way it is. But if you had any hopes of Penn State making some sort of miraculous at-large bid to the national tournament in their first season, this schedule isn't going to get them there.

There are things to like, there are things to not like. Sounds like life.

1. John Lynch Foundation: Jeanette Bateman
(YouTube)

Two weeks ago, a picture of incoming women's player Jeanette Bateman receiving $10,000 in scholarship money from the John Lynch Foundation was buried somewhere in the middle of "Best of the Rest." Turn that picture into a 2:00 video of Bateman basically introducing herself? Yeah, I'll bump that up a few.

Best of the Rest



Inspiring words from Joe Battista
(YouTube)

Can someone please tell me which phone records these ridiculous vertical videos?

Anyway, here's a brief clip of the Hockey Czar from the PSU Alumni Leadership Conference two weekends ago.

Penn State will be a new rival for Buckeyes
(Columbus Wired)

Since the days of Villanova, Niagara College, Michigan-Dearborn, Ohio and Delaware are gone (or soon to be gone in OU's case), Penn State needs a new archrival. That one team you hate over all others, and they hate you on the same level. The one where you say "I'd gladly go 4-30, as long as the four come against them" (even if that's not entirely true) and do silly things like refuse to speak or type that team's name. And unlike in football, I think it has a shot of happening for NCAA men's hockey.

In football, Penn State is the other woman in a rivalry love triangle involving Ohio State and Michigan. There have been and will be years where PSU-OSU means more than OSU-Michigan. That affair from 2005-2009 - which took place while Michigan was on an extended business trip to Irrelevantistan - was quite fun. But at the end of the day, even after promising to end things, the Buckeyes will always end up back with their wife, leaving PSU to the domain of angry texting and futile attempts to break them up.

The good news? Michigan's married to Michigan State in hockey. Anything you see saying otherwise comes from people who don't follow the sport closely and assume Michigan pairs off with Ohio State for everything. While it's hard to just declare a rival and have it be so (these things need time to develop), there are reasons to be encouraged.

INCH 10 For 13: The Teams
(Inside College Hockey)

At least one outlet says that Penn State's playing two top 10 teams next year. Just don't click the link to their picks from last season at the bottom of the page.

Ice Hockey Announces Class Of 2016
(suathletics.com)

Syracuse has joined Mercyhurst and Lindenwood among the womens' CHA rivals in announcing their incoming recruiting class. So half down, half (Penn State, Robert Morris and RIT) to go.

Sorry ladies, your monopoly on the ACHA cheerleading scene is over.

2012-13 Ice Hockey Cheerleading Squad Announced
(lindenwoodlions.com)

Speaking of Lindenwood, it sounds as if Iowa State will no longer have the only hockey cheerleaders in the ACHA. LU does a good job sharing resources between their hockey programs, so I have to assume that they'll swing between the ACHA men and the NCAA DI/CHA women.

Speaker lineup for 2nd annual Coaches Conference includes three Stanley Cup champions
(The Coaches Site)

In case you wanted to know where Guy Gadowsky will be on July 20th and 21st, he has a speaking gig in Joe Sakic's hometown.

2011-12 Girls Hockey Season - Our Seniors
(nationalsportsacademy.com)

A rundown of the NSA senior girls hockey players, which includes Emily Laurenzi, of course.

Four-year player Emily Laurenzi has become one of the most influential players on the team. Laurenzi has, “hard work and commitment on the ice [that] easily sets her apart from other players” and “you will never find her taking a shift off .” After four years Laurenzi has accumulated seventy-eight goals, two hundred and three assists, and played two hundred and ninety games. Her hard work earned her a place on Penn State’s brand new Division One girls program, becoming the first recruit in the history of their program. Laurenzi is “excited for something new since she has been [at NSA] for a while, but will miss it.” 

I assume it was a coach and not Laurenzi saying that her hard work and commitment sets her apart, but it's never mentioned. I should be nice though - Laurenzi co-wrote the entire piece.

UPDATE: Laurenzi tells me that the quoted words not from her are from NSA coach Kelli Vossler. So there you go!

Monday's roundup: Livonia Ladywood wins Catholic A-B softball title
(Detroit News)

Jordin Pardoski, another incoming women's recruit, doesn't suck at lacrosse either.

Rochester 11, Farmington 8: Jessica Leininger had four goals and Katie Krako and Jordin Pardoski each had two goals and one assist for Rochester (13-3, 6-0 OAA White). Lauren Anderson had three goals for Farmington (4-10, 4-2).

PIAA basketball finals leaving Penn State, returning to Hershey; Giant Center to keep wrestling

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/05/24/3206927/piaa-basketball-finals-returning.html#storylink=cpy

(Centre Daily Times)

Just to review, Wisconsin moved their hockey series with PSU to a Sunday and Monday (February 24th and 25th) to avoid conflict with their state high school wrestling tournament. They're also relocating their March 8-9 home series with St. Cloud State to Madison's Alliant Energy Center - the Badgers' home ice from 1967-1998 - to clear the Kohl Center for their state high school basketball tournament. Penn State, meanwhile, blew their gig hosting PA's high school basketball tournament because someone can't read the instructions on a request for proposals.

Not that I really care. If anything, I disagree with Wisconsin's position and feel that UW should come first at UW facilities. Priority on booking dates is a big reason why it's beneficial to have your own facility in the first place. Remember the uproar when Penn State basketball was forced to practice in the IM Building due to a Bon Jovi concert at the Jordan Center? Well, I like Bon Jovi better than I like high school basketball, put it that way. I just found the contrast amusing, that's all. Carry on. Somewhere else, I'm done with this post.