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[ Monday, Feb. 15, 1999 ]
Hungry icers feast on No. 5 Bobcats
By KEVIN BRICKER
Collegian Staff Writer
It's over. The Penn State men's ice hockey team can take a collective sigh of relief. The No. 3 Icers (21-3-3) concluded a crucial month-long stretch of games that tested their resolve by rediscovering their appetite for victory this past weekend, something they apparently had lost over the past few weeks. "We've learned a lot throughout this stretch," senior defenseman Buff Shuttleworth said. "To come out and finish it the way we did, I wouldn't change anything." In a rematch of last year's American Collegiate Hockey Association Championship game, the Icers left their ACHA regular season table satisfied after munching on No. 5 Ohio (14-8-3) with a 1-1 tie Friday and a 3-1 triumph Saturday on the road. The win halted the Bobcats' 18-game unbeaten streak that began Nov. 7. "I think this road trip saved our season," Penn State senior forward Joe Bassett said. "You could feel the team coming together this weekend."
PHOTO: Gordon Marshall
Penn State’s Joe McArdle stares down a West Virginia opponent during a game earlier this season at the Ice Pavilion.
If they had to do it all over again, the Icers would have preferred a win instead of a tie Friday. They had their chances. After freshman Joe McArdle's goal knotted the score at 1-1, Penn State was unable to capitalize on some open-net opportunities late in the game and settled for the tie.
Icers' coach Joe Battista had a healthy and full roster at his disposal for the first time in months. Penn State's depth exhausted Ohio. It was a matter of numbers -- four was better than three.
Playing four lines to the Bobcats' three for most of the weekend, Penn State had fresh legs. Ohio coach Craig McCarthy used only two defensive pairings for much of the games.
The Icers forwards wore down the Bobcats' defense as senior forward Greg Held rejoined the lineup after being sidelined for several weeks with a thumb injury. Saturday, they seized the Bobcats early with two first-period goals.
McArdle tallied his second goal of the weekend and sophomore Todd Dakan added another in the first stanza to pace the Icers. Ohio closed the margin to 2-1 with a power-play goal midway through the second, but in the third Icers junior defenseman Loren Remetta netted his first goal.
Senior goaltender John Sixt started back-to-back games in consecutive days for the first time since late November. The Icers' defense and Sixt's netminding clamped down on the Bobcats' offense, allowing just two goals in two games as Penn State earned its first win at Athens in eight years.
"We've been playing in a bit of a lull lately," Shuttleworth said. "As a team we played two of our best games of the season."
Heading to Ohio, Penn State was 1-2-2 in its last five games. The Icers have finished a stretch of nine out of 12 games against teams headed to the ACHA Tournament. After going 13-1 in the fall, it was a dose of reality for the Icers.
"We had a great first semester," Shuttleworth said. "But we had this attitude that it was in our cards to win. For us to show up and think we'll win is ridiculous.
"We're hungry again."
Penn State will play two non-league games against Seneca this weekend at home before heading to the ACHA Tournament beginning March 3 in Newark, Del.
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