Freshman forward Dominic Morrone, the Penn State Icers second-leading scorer, will be out indefinitely after getting his appendix removed.
Morrone said it was a random injury that was discovered after he felt pain Monday and visited the trainer, and he felt the injury was not due to any actions during last weekend's games against Rhode Island.
"Monday came around, and I just felt the pain, and I went to the trainer, and she immediately took me to the doctor," Morrone said Wednesday. "The doctor didn't waste any time, went right to the [emergency room], and I got a CAT scan, and through the CAT scan they said it was appendicitis and they wanted to operate right away."
Morrone was discharged from the hospital Tuesday after the surgery.
Though Penn State assistant coach Bill Downey confirmed Morrone's operation after practice Tuesday, he did not say when Morrone could return to the team.
"I've heard some people say they know people who had it and played the next week, and I've heard other people say four weeks, five weeks," Downey said. "So we'll wait to hear from the doctors and go from there."
Morrone also said there is no timetable for his return but did say he has a doctor's appointment set for next week and that he can't participate in any physical activity for 10 days. The Icers play a home-and-home series this weekend with Drexel and a win would clinch the ESCHL regular season title.
Morrone's absence is another tough loss for the Icers, who already have three players out with injury: George Saad, Chris Pronchik and Dan Loucks.
But Morrone's loss also looms large because of his offensive contributions to the team. Morrone is currently fourth on the team in goals (13) and second on the team in assists (20) in 30 games this season.
Tim O'Brien said after practice Tuesday that guys on the team will have to step up again and be ready to play. If there has been a continuing theme throughout this whole season for the Icers, it has been having guys ready to play at any moment during the season because of injury.
But it's still tough for Morrone to take.
"It's just disappointing for this to happen at this part of the season," Morrone said. "Worked hard all year for this, and for it to happen right now, it just kind of sucks."
