Ice Lions back on track with victory against West Virginia

By MICHAEL YODER
Collegian Staff Writer

The Penn State Ice Lions finally are back on the winning side of a hockey game.

Friday night in Morgantown, W.Va., the Ice Lions (8-5-2) defeated West Virginia 7-3 in a game that turned out to be extremely physical and high scoring.

"The team is a little bit back on track," Penn State coach Mo Stroemel said. "They played very well against West Virginia."

Penn State got on the board early in the first period with a goal by Frank Fisher and assisted by Adam Lusin. West Virginia responded with two early goals of its own.

After the first period, the game quickly got out of hand as both teams racked up penalty minutes. Before the end of the game, a combined total of 93 penalty minutes were accumulated.

"The game was very rough and physical," Stroemel said. "West Virginia was very chippy. One of their players was disqualified from the game."

With a relentless floor check and defense that looked unyielding, Penn State quickly took control of the game and dominated all aspects of play.

"Our floor check worked well and our defense was solid," Stroemel said.

With the defensive zone under control and physical play keeping West Virginia in check, Penn State's scoring started to add up. Doug Qualey, Stephan Pinchak and Lusin, who also added two assists, scored goals.

In his first game back in over a month, Brian Brillman scored a goal and an assist. Penn State captain Dan Horowitz added two goals of his own, but downplayed the importance of his own performance.

"It's nice to score," Horowitz said, "but what's better is that every line contributed. Players like Brian Brillman really stepped up and played great."

The real turning point in the game for Penn State may have come toward the end of the second period. At the 6:27 mark of the second period, hanging onto a one-goal lead, Penn State went on a five-minute power play after a West Virginia player committed a major penalty. The Ice Lions went on to score two goals on the power play and put the game out of reach for the Mountaineers.

"That power play gave us all the momentum we needed," Stroemel said. "It really changed the pace of the game."

West Virginia added a goal late, but couldn't mount a real comeback attempt. Penn State ended the game with 37 shots to West Virginia's 30, and 40 total penalty minutes to West Virginia's 53.

Even though the Ice Lions came away with a win, they are not looking too far ahead in the future. There are still hockey games to play before nationals roll around in March, but a well-played game against a tough West Virginia team may have helped their cause to make a run at the national championship again.

"We got back to basic hockey in this game," Horowitz said. "We really beat them physically. Hopefully we can take this win and roll from here."