In Friday night's 7-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers, senior goaltender Chris Matteo grabbed his fifth win of the season. But it was sophomore goaltender Aaron Myers who grabbed the spotlight.

Myers, a native of State College, made his long-awaited and highly anticipated collegiate debut when Penn State ACHA Division I Icers' head coach Scott Balboni subbed him in -- much to Myers' surprise -- midway through the third period.

"Coach looked at me and he was like, 'You're going in,' and I was like 'What?' " Myers said. "This has been a lifelong dream of mine. I grew up here, so I've been dreaming of this for a long, long time and it finally happened."

Despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Myers first few minutes in net were rather uneventful, as Penn State controlled the puck in the Pittsburgh zone. Myers said this only added to his already heightened nerves.

"When I first got in there, I didn't touch the puck at all and I was like, 'Uh... .' It feels weird when you're in a game right away and you don't do anything," he said.

"But I wasn't too nervous. I've been playing with these guys all year up until this point, so I was comfortable and used to it. Once you get into the flow of the game, you don't even think about it. You just worry about the puck."

Myers would eventually see the puck -- albeit briefly -- and made two saves to preserve the combined shutout. Although he was on the ice for roughly 11 minutes and saw limited action, his teammates mauled him at the buzzer and congratulated him as if he had just won them a national championship.

In the locker room after the game, Myers was repeatedly praised by sophomore goaltender Nick Signet and even earned a Gatorade bath. For the Icers, Myers' appearance was a cause for celebration.

"[Aaron's] a hard worker and a great kid. He just keeps getting better every time he's out there," Matteo said. "I couldn't have been happier for him; he definitely deserved it."

A day later, the gravity of Friday night's events had not been lost on Myers. When asked to compare his first college game to any of his previous playing experiences in the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, he could only come up with one.

Myers recalled a, 9-1, road loss against Bishop McCort during his senior year at State College Area High School. In the game, the Little Lions and Myers, who was the starting goaltender, were out-shot by nearly 30 attempts. The two teams reunited in State College later that season and Bishop McCort, once again, dominated the offensive zone en route to a 60-15 edge in shots, according to Myers.

However, Myers was stellar in net and almost single-handedly led his team to a 3-2, overtime victory.

Yet, despite the 58-save performance in a game that he calls "my best ever," Myers said it still couldn't top his first game as an Icer.

"My whole life I've wanted to wear this uniform," he said. "Making 58 saves in a game is awesome, but to put this uniform on is something else."

News from Italy

After losing to Canada and Slovakia in its first two contests at the World University Games, Team USA will look to put a mark in the win column when it plays Russia this morning at 8 a.m.

Head coach Chad Cassel, from No.1 Illinois in the ACHA, says his team is beginning to gel in time for one of its toughest matchups.

"There's zero margin for error against Russia. They are the best team we'll face based on what I've seen from practice," he said in an e-mail. "We're going to need great goaltending and we'll need to stay out of the penalty box and take advantage of our scoring opportunities, which we've had a bit of a problem with so far in the tournament."

Team USA has had difficulties adapting to international hockey in its first two games -- a 5-0 loss to Canada and 3-2 loss to Slovakia.

Penn State sophomore forward Luke DeLorenzo, who is joined by teammates Mike McMullen, Keith Jordan and Frank Berry, says his team has struggled mostly with the size of the rinks it is playing on.

"The biggest difference is playing on the big ice surface," he said. "There is much more room and the international opponents are so skilled that it is very hard to take the puck off of them."