Icers to face Seneca in last home match

By JOSHUA RHETT MILLER
Collegian Staff Writer

It's going to be a battle of the unknown defending champions.

Penn State and Seneca are two strangers with a very unique and common bond. Both schools won their respective championships last season and are now looking to repeat.

But even with the popularity that comes with winning it all, these squads know relatively nothing about each other.

For the final home games of their season, the No. 2 Icers (21-3-3) will meet non-league opponent Seneca from Toronto at 9 p.m. today and 3:30 p.m. tomorrow. Both games will be played at the Ice Pavilion at the Greenberg Sports Complex.

"I really know absolutely nothing about Penn State," Seneca coach Francesco Bazzocchi said. "But I do know we'll face a great team because they won it all last year."

Seneca (8-6-2) captured the Ontario College Athletic Association Championship last year but then lost 18 players to graduation and departures.

"Since we're not the same team as last year, things have been much different against the bigger teams this year," Bazzocchi said. "Penn State will be a tough challenge for us."

Like Bazzocchi, Penn State coach Joe Battista doesn't have the luxury of knowing what to expect on the ice. But with the start of the ACHA Tournament two weeks away, he is focused on fine tuning his team.

"I'm less worried about what they do," he said. "I'll be watching what we do. We're going to focus on defense and execution."

Buff Shuttleworth, Penn State's defensive captain, thinks the fact that Seneca is a Canadian team says something for its ability.

"Their team will probably be a lot older than us because some guys in Canada stay in school longer to play hockey," Shuttleworth said. "And, they're obviously going to be from Canada, so they'll all be able to play. Because of that, we're expecting two tight, close games."

Bazzocchi described his team as a fast, intelligent group of guys who love to hit hard and often. But like Battista, Bazzocchi said he wants to focus on his own players instead of who wins and loses.

"It's always nice to know the other team's lineup," he said. "But I can't. So we're just looking at it like what we do this weekend can only help us."

Since the seeds for the ACHA Tournament have been released, No. 2-seed Penn State isn't going to fret over two exhibition games.

"We're not too worried because these games don't really count in the standings," Penn State senior forward Joe Bassett said. "We're just trying to play well and win. We don't want to go into the playoffs with a loss."