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[ Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 ]
Icer Zivkovic makes ACHA history
By CARLA MOTKO
Just 31 seconds into the Penn State men's ice hockey team's second power play of Saturday's game against Seneca, defenseman Jason Zivkovic stood at the right point as forward Alon Eizenman took a faceoff in the right circle. The forward won the faceoff and fed the puck back to Zivkovic. Zivkovic looked for a shot, but passed it off to the left point where fellow defenseman and longtime friend Don Coyne looked on. Coyne wound up with a slap shot and one-timed it into the top right of the net. With a 4-1 score prior to Coyne's goal, the game was already out of hand when Coyne made it 5-1, but for Zivkovic it was the biggest goal of the night. The assist to Coyne gave Zivkovic his 200th career point as an Icer making him the first defenseman in American Collegian Hockey Association (ACHA) history to hit that milestone. "It's a great feeling, but I really can't explain it right now," Zivkovic said. "It's hard to comprehend what it means right now. Maybe in a few years I'll look back and realize what it was." | ||||
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PHOTO: Shawn Knapp Icer defenseman Jason Zivkovic skates down ice against Delaware earlier this season. |
In the Icers' two games this weekend against Seneca, Zivkovic earned his 199th, 200th and 201st points all from assists. That is not really uncommon for Zivkovic, who has now scored 155 of his 201 points from assists. Many of those 155 assists went to Coyne, who is only 11 points behind Zivkovic. Zivkovic and Coyne have been cooking up pass plays for several years now. Prior to coming to Penn State, the defensemen played Junior-A hockey in Cleveland together. "In the past four years me and Coyne have connected on a lot of goals," Zivkovic said. "I wouldn't have it any other way because me and Coyne have been so close, and for him score on my 200th point was the best way to have it." Zivkovic has been a major factor in the team's success over the past four years. With an overall record of 121-21-5, his senior class has the best overall mark of any of the previous Icers' senior classes. Adding a 3.6 grade point average to the rest of his talents, the administration of justice major may also be one of the frontrunners for the Bob Johnson Award, given to the ACHA Player of the Year. The senior came to Penn State hoping to become a CIA agent, but because he's played hockey most of his life, he will head to law school after this season to become an agent in the world of sports and entertainment. He will by no means, however, be looking forward to leaving Penn State behind. Penn State coach Joe Battista was glad to see Zivkovic's 200th point come on the power play, which had been slumping the previous few games, dropping from 45-percent efficiency to 36 percent. "That play has worked so much for us over the years. For Jason Zivkovic to get his 200th point on that play," Battista said, "you couldn't have asked for anything better in terms of poetic justice."
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Updated: Monday, February 22, 1999 11:51:10 PM -4
Requested: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 1:26:10 PM -4 Created: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 6:26:06 PM -4 | |||||