Between the Pipes

A Look Around the ACHA's Top-10

2009-11-26T17:04:07Z

No. 1 Lindenwood Upcoming Games: Nov. 28-29 vs. No. 12 Adrian Lindenwood is coming off one of its closest games of the season, a two-goal victory over Western Michigan last Saturday. The Lions were obviously the better team, winning Friday's game 10-1, but Saturday's game seemed to prove the Lions might not be the invincible team they have appeared to be for the past few months. Lindenwood played one game against Adrian earlier this year, winning 4-1 on the road. This weekend will serve as a tune-up for the Lions, who take on Ohio and Oklahoma in the two weekends following this one. Although all of those games are at home, they should test the Lions in a way they haven't been yet this year. No. 2 Illinois Upcoming Games: Dec. 4-5 vs. No. 16 Kent State Aside from two losses to the nation's top team and a Halloween loss to No. 5 Iowa State, the Illini have cruised through the first half of the year. Next weekend's games against Kent State will be Illinois' last until Jan. 8 when the Illini return to the ice to take on No. 25 Eastern Michigan. The second half of Illinois' slate includes matchups with No. 5 Iowa State, No. 4 Ohio, No. 1 Lindenwood and No. 10 Central Oklahoma. With a schedule like that, the Illini will surely enjoy the next month in which they play only two games. No. 3 Liberty Upcoming Games: Dec. 4 vs. Virginia Tech Liberty will look to use this game against an ACHA Division II opponent to bounce back from a very disappointing weekend last week. The Flames, who entered the weekend 16-0-0 and as the only team other than Lindenwood to receive a first-place vote, dropped back-to-back games against No. 13 Oakland. Those games opened eyes from both ends, showing Liberty's potent offense could actually be controlled and that Oakland just might be for real. Despite the Grizzlies' 13-4-0 record entering the weekend, Oakland's only impressive win until this point had been a 4-2 victory at Central Oklahoma. Look for Oakland to rise big in the next rankings and for Liberty to come back strong against Virginia Tech. No. 4 Ohio Upcoming Games: Nov. 28 vs. No. 23 West Virginia, Nov. 29 vs. No. 18 West Chester OR Duquesne Although the Bobcats are on a 10-game winning streak, their schedule during that stretch hasn't exactly been difficult. That pattern continues this weekend when the Bobcats take on the Mountaineers and then, based on results, either West Chester or Duqesne. Ohio hopes to leave the weekend on a 12-game winning streak heading into next weekend's showdown with No. 1 Lindenwood -- the team's first real test since Oct. 17 when the Bobcats took on the Fightin' Blue Hens of Delaware. No. 5 Iowa State Upcoming Games: Dec. 5-6 vs. Saint Louis Iowa State continued its consistent play last weekend, posting a sweep in the ACHA's biggest series last week. Taking on No. 9 Arizona State, who had yet to lost a game this season, the Cyclones won both games over the weekend, defeating the Sun Devils 2-1 in a shootout Friday and 4-1 Saturday. Iowa State has now swept Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma and Arizona State this season, along with splitting a series with Illinois and playing two close contests against Lindenwood back in October. The Cyclones' second-half schedule doesn't seem as difficult as the first half on paper, so it should be interesting to see what kind of impact this team can have come nationals. No. 6 Penn State Upcoming Games: Nov. 28 vs. Southern New Hampshire (NCAA Division III), Nov. 29 vs. UMass - Boston (NCAA Division III) OR Stonehill (NCAA Division III) The Icers look to represent the ACHA as they travel north to take on a pair of NCAA Division III opponents. Penn State waited until winter break last year to take on two NCAA opponents, but this year it chose to do so over the Thanksgiving break. After losing a heartbreaker in the opener on a short-handed goal late in the third to Salem State last year, the Icers bounced back with a dominating 8-0 victory against Salve Regina. Any win against an NCAA opponent is a good thing, but the Icers are expecting nothing less than two wins this time around. No. 7 Oklahoma Upcoming Games: Nov. 27-28 at No. 9 Arizona State This might be one of the most interesting matchups of the year. As we've talked about in past ACHA recaps, it's been really hard to decide what to make of this Oklahoma team. The Sooners' only impressive win is against West Chester, but the way the Golden Rams have been playing lately even brings that win into question. Other than that, Oklahoma has lost every game it has played against top teams like Lindenwood, Illinois and Iowa State. At the same time, Arizona State comes into this weekend after suffering its first two losses of the year last week at the hands of No. 5 Iowa State. Despite the previously undefeated record, the Sun Devils had really gone untested until the games against Iowa State. Which team is for real? Maybe both? Maybe neither? Should be an interesting matchup. No. 8 Rhode Island Upcoming Games: Dec. 4-5 at Drexel Rhode Island needs a sweep against Drexel. Having this weekend off and then the semester break after this series, it will be the Rams' last chance to get back on track after a couple of sub-par weekends. Last weekend the Rams split a series with a struggling West Chester team. The week before they were swept on their own home ice by rival Penn State. And the week before that, Rhode Island lost to an NCAA Division III team. That makes Rhode Island just 1-4 over its last five games, four of which have been against divisional opponents. Anything other than two wins against Drexel would leave the Rams in a very difficult spot when the second half of the season starts up. No. 9 Arizona State Upcoming Games: Nov. 27-28 vs. No. 7 Oklahoma The Sun Devils are no longer undefeated after losing a pair of games to No. 5 Iowa State last weekend. For a preview of this weekend's key matchup against No. 7 Oklahoma, see above underneath No. 7 Oklahoma's recap. No. 10 Central Oklahoma Upcoming Games: Nov. 28-29 vs. TBD The Bronchos will take part in the Wooster Thanksgiving Tournament, playing one game on Saturday and one on Sunday. Central Oklahoma enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak and will look to extend it to six before its top-10, intrastate showdown against No. 7 Oklahoma next weekend. The Bronchos have a great opportunity to gain some momentum, cement their spot in the ACHA's top-10 and enter the semester break on a roll with some wins over the next two weekends. To e-mail: Paul

Simply Dominant

2009-11-22T02:08:26Z

As if the scoreboard wasn't enough to tell the tale of this weekend's set, the box scores do it more justice. To be blunt, the Icers pummeled Navy this weekend. There's no two ways about it. Here's how it breaks down for the weekend. These are combined stats from both games. Shots: Penn State - 120. Navy - 30. - Any time you can get four times more shots on goal than you opponent, you're doing something right. Teddy Hume faced eight shots through two periods on Friday night. That is just a testament to how stifling Penn State's defense was this weekend. Power Play: Penn State - 3/15. Navy 0/5. - The Icers finally got on the board this weekend with the extra attacker after a small drought. Penn State also clamped down on the penalty kill, giving Navy no chance to get any momentum the entire weekend. Penn State isn't being penalized and when they are, its penalty kill is just taking the momentum right back. Eric Steinour: I think that the Midshipmen are going to have nightmares about Steinour for the next couple of nights. Steinour logged four goals and two assists Friday night in the best performance by any Icer this season. Let's put that performance into perspective. The four goals are more goals than 17 of the 28 Icers forwards and defensemen have for the entire season. It's also more goals than 32 members of the Navy team have this season and ties him with two others. Those goals also moved him from sixth on the Penn State scoring column to second behind Dominic Morrone who has 11 goals for the season after the weekend. In my estimation, it was the best weekend Penn State has had all season. No, it wasn't against an opponent like Ohio or Rhode Island or Delaware, but the Icers had struggled with some of the lesser teams on their schedule and had issues with expecting these teams to roll over. The Icers came in, took care of business and then left. Penn State is on a 10 game win streak and it'll be interesting to see how that streak and momentum hold up against some NCAA schools this weekend. To e-mail: Kinslow

Regular Season Rankings No. 4

2009-11-21T20:55:39Z

The fourth regular season rankings have been released, and for the second rankings in a row, no team dropped out of the rankings. Also, despite some big wins from top-ranked teams, including Penn State, the top-6 teams all remained the same. The lower half of the top-10, however, became a little jumbled. Delaware, who had spent all season in the top-10 and was ranked as high as No. 4, fell to No. 11. The Fightin' Blue Hens, who the Icers play the first weekend back after break, have now fallen at least two spots in every poll this year. The top two teams, No. 1 Lindenwood and No. 2 Illinois, remained the same yet again, but Lindenwood was not the unanimous No. 1 this time around. Liberty received one first-place, which it also received in the second poll before Lindenwood regained its unanimous No. 1-ranking in the third. Arizona State finally cracked the top-10, rising three spots to No. 9 with its still undefeated record of 14-0-0. All three teams that were undefeated when the last rankings came out -- the aforementioned No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils, No. 1 Lindenwood and No. 3 Liberty -- all remain undefeated still. On the other end of the spectrum, three teams in the rankings actually have losing records, including No. 21 Robert Morris (IL) who sports a record of just 4-13-1. The other two are No. 20 Western Michigan, who have dropped four straight games to fall to 5-9-0 and No. 25 Easter Michigan, who is 5-10-0. A quick look at where some of Penn State's recent and near future opponents are now ranked: - Ohio is still No. 4 - Rhode Island dropped only one spot to No. 8 - West Chester fell another spot to No. 18 - West Virginia moved up a spot to No. 23 - Delaware fell out of the top-10 to No. 11 - Towson, Drexel and Navy all remained unranked. Here are the rankings: 1 Lindenwood (20-0-0) 2 Illinois (14-3-0) 3 Liberty (16-0-0) 4 Ohio (17-1-1) 5 Iowa State (12-4-2) 6 Penn State (12-1-1) 7 Oklahoma (8-5-1) 8 Rhode Island (11-4-1) 9 Arizona State (14-0-0) 10 Central Oklahoma(12-6-0) 11 Delaware (9-5-0) 12 Adrian (12-4-1) 13 Oakland (13-4-0) 14 Michigan-Dearborn (8-5-2) 15 Minot State (11-2-0) 16 Kent State (11-6-0) 17 Robert Morris (PA) (10-6-0) 18 West Chester (8-5-1) 19 Stony Brook (8-5-1) 20 Western Michigan (5-9-0) 21 Robert Morris (IL) (4-13-1) 22 Indiana (PA) (8-2-1) 23 West Virginia (8-4-1) 24 Buffalo (8-5-1) 25 Eastern Michigan (5-10-0) The next rankings come out in two weeks on December 4. To e-mail: Paul

Two Suspended for Friday's Game

2009-11-13T01:32:01Z

The already short-handed Icers took another hit today when they found out they will be playing without forwards Chris Pronchik and Marek Polidor in Friday night's clash with No. 7 Rhode Island. After the final buzzer of the team's most recent game against Navy last Saturday, an altercation broke out after the Navy goaltender came out of the net and made a hit on a breakaway attempt. The Icers took exception to the unusual play and players started shoving as both teams came together before being separated. Pronchik and Polidor received game disqualifications, which carry with them an automatic one-game suspension, even though the game had already ended. Both Navy's coach and Penn State's Scott Balboni protested the suspensions, but despite both coaches from the game and the league's commissioner agreeing to overturn the ruling, the referee's commissioner denied the appeal and the suspensions will stand for Friday night's league clash. Losing two players to suspension will be especially hard on the sixth-ranked Icers this week, as they continue to struggle with injuries. Balboni listed the following players as definitely out for this weekend earlier this week: - Matt Kirstein - John Conte - Taylor Cera - Kurt Collins - Carey Bell - Ryan Erbe - Dave Herel - Alan Clark On top of those injuries, Dan Loucks and Dan Petrick are both listed as day-to-day, but assistant coach Bill Downey just told me earlier tonight that Petrick is available to play this weekend. Having Petrick available will at least allow the Icers to dress six defensemen, after playing with only five last Saturday following Petrick's injury the night before. Penn State has only 28 players on its roster, not including the three goalies, and at least 10 of those skaters will be unable to play Friday because of either injury or suspension. That leaves the team with exactly 18 players to dress, assuming anyone else nursing an injury is able to go. This is certainly not the start to the weekend the Icers were hoping for as they prepare for two league games against a bitter rival in a matchup of the No. 6 and No. 7 teams in the ACHA. To e-mail: Paul

Icers weigh in on head shots

2009-11-11T22:44:49Z

As Miniaci blogged about in 10 Minute Misconduct earlier today, head shots are a hot-button issue in hockey right now. In recent weeks, it has taken the limelight after a few much-discussed hits in the NHL and a hit on a junior player in Canada that left him with skull and facial fractures. Head shots have become such a topic that the NHL General Managers spent today discussing head shots during their meetings in Toronto. The concensus today, according to a report from the Globe and Mail in Canada (via Puck Daddy of Yahoo Sports), that there will be a rule change in shots to the head. That came a week after Chris Drury was the latest player to be knocked out by a shot to the head. That came a week after Mike Richards' heavily publicized hit on David Booth of the Florida Panthers that forced Booth to leave the game on a stretcher. That hit came after Vancouver defenseman Willie Mitchell hit Chicago's Jonathan Toews with his head down: Tuesday after practice, I asked a couple of the Icers about head shots in hockey. "Coach is always saying, 'keep your sticks down, keep your hands down, make the clean hit when it's there,' " sophomore forward Paul Daley said. "Because you don't want to be in the box and at the same time, you don't actually want to hurt anyone or jeopardize their careers." Daley is an interesting example because of the physical nature of his game, and how successful he's been so far this season throwing the body and changing the momentum of a game with a check. A big part of this debate has also been whether these hits are on purpose or by coincidence. Daley added that "hockey instincts" take over in those situations. "When I'm going in for the hit, I'm going in as hard as I can and if I have a good hit lined up, I get excited," Daley said. "Basically your instincts will take over if a guy turns his back, or if he's two feet off the boards, you try to avoid it at the last second. Your hockey instincts will take over." Physicality has always been a part of the game and luckily there hasn't been a situation involving the Icers so far this season like there has been in the NHL. Icers coach Scott Balboni said despite the debate, he hasn't addressed the issue with his team. "We're in a situation by at this point of the game, guys should know what they're doing and hopefully that doesn't occur," Icers coach Scott Balboni said. "And if it does, we'll deal with it." Freshman forward Dominic Morrone added that it won't change the way the team plays. "That's just a general rule of hockey," Morrone said. "We know what a clean check is, we know what isn't. For the most part though, we're not gonna shy away. At the same time, I wouldn't consider anybody on our team cheap. So, it just comes down to playing hard and clean." -Copain

TQT with Chris Cerutti

2009-11-11T00:43:35Z

Sophomore Chris Cerutti burst onto the scene as a freshman last year, recording 25 points in just 26 games. With a balanced offensive attack, Cerutti lit the lamp 13 times and set up another 12 goals, all while gathering a +/- rating of 27. Now in his second year, Cerutti has become a fixture in the Penn State lineup and an offensive threat night in, night out. But here at TQT, we put all those stats and numbers aside, and look to find out more about Cerutti off the ice than on it. Here we go: 1. Who are your three favorite bands right now? A: I'm going to diversify a little bit and go with Kenny Chesney, Linkin Park and Kanye West. 2. Who is your favorite Penn State athlete, not on the Icers? A: I'm gonna go with everyone else and say Sean Lee for this one. 3. What story or name are you tired of hearing about in the news? A: Well last week I was getting really sick of hearing about the Favre returning to Green Bay story. 4. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be? A: Well I'm going to get made fun of for this one, but "Hollywood's Not America" by the Ferras. 5. What's the best Disney movie of all time? A: D-2: The Mighty Ducks. 6. Who is the funniest guy on the team? A: I'm going to have to go with John Conte just because during the day he always sends out this quick, one-line texts to people and always gets a laugh out of me when I'm in class or something. 7. Best meal in town? A: I'm a personal fan of Rotelli's. 8. If you had to go to school anywhere other than Penn State, where would it be? A: P-I-T-T, let's go Pitt. Paul: How come? A: I have a lot of friends that go there, it's 20 minutes from my house and it's a fun time. 9. If you could pull off the ultimate prank on anyone on the team, coach of player, who would it be and why? A: It'd be Tim [O'Brien] just cause we go back-and-forth all the time trying to get each other. 10. What's the most exciting play in hockey? A: The big hit because it can really change the momentum of a game and get in the heads of guys on the other team. ---------------------------- That does it for this time around. Be sure to check back throughout the week as we keep you updated on the myriad of injuries the team has been dealing with lately and as we take a look around the ACHA to see what the other top-10 teams will be doing this weekend when the No. 6 Icers travel to Rhode Island to take on the No. 7 Rams. To e-mail: Paul

Third Regular Season Rankings Released

2009-11-08T00:56:13Z

The third regular season rankings have been released, and although a lot of teams moved around in the rankings, all 25 teams in the ranking remained the same from the last set of rankings. And not only did all the teams that made the rankings last time around find their way into the top-25 again, but the top-10 teams were all ranked somewhere amongst the nation's 10 best again. The top two teams, No. 1 Lindenwood and No. 2 Illinois, remained the same yet again, and Lindenwood regained its unanimous No. 1-ranking this time around. Liberty took over sole possession of the No. 3 spot, breaking a tie with Ohio, who fell to No. 4. Other than that, there were no other changes in the top-7, including Penn State staying at No. 6. Three teams remain undefeated in the ACHA -- No. 1 Lindenwood, No. 3 Liberty and No. 12 Arizona State. Although the Sun Devils don't sport the most difficult schedule so far, it's still difficult to figure out their ranking, especially since one of their 10 wins this year is against the team ranked one spot ahead of them, Adrian. ASU beat Adrian 4-3 at a neutral site in the ACHA Showcase on Oct. 11. Arizona State will definitely be tested in the weeks to come though, as it takes on No. 21 Robert Morris (IL), No. 18 Minot State and No. 16 Robert Morris (PA) this weekend and still has games remaining against No. 10 Central Oklahoma, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 1 Lindenwood. A quick look at where some of Penn State's recent and near future opponents are now ranked: Ohio is No. 3, West Chester continues its free-fall dropping to No. 17, West Virginia is No. 24, and Towson, Drexel and Navy all remain unranked. Here are the rankings: 1 Lindenwood (16-0-0) 2 Illinois (9-3-0) 3 Liberty (12-0-0) 4 Ohio (13-1-1) 5 Iowa State (9-4-1) 6 Penn State (8-1-1) 7 Rhode Island (11-2-0) 8 Oklahoma (5-3-1) 9 Delaware (7-3-0) 10 Central Oklahoma(9-4-0) 11 Adrian (10-3-1) 12 Arizona State (10-0-0) 13 Michigan-Dearborn (7-3-1) 14 Oakland (10-2-0) 15 Kent State (8-5-0) 16 Robert Morris (PA) (7-4-0) 17 West Chester (6-4-1) 18 Minot State (7-1-0) 19 Stony Brook (5-3-1) 20 Western Michigan (5-5-0) 21 Robert Morris (IL) (4-8-1) 22 Eastern Michigan (5-6-0) 23 Indiana (PA) (6-1-0) 24 West Virginia (5-4-0) 25 Buffalo (6-4-0) The next rankings come out in two weeks on November 20. To e-mail: Paul

Icers' Unusual Practice Week

2009-11-06T22:41:31Z

The Icers will take on Navy tonight after an unusual week of practice. Instead of the typical on-ice practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, coach Scott Balboni gave the Icers Wednesday off in terms of skating. He did have the team show up and do a workout session in the gym, but they didn't take the ice. Thursday, they were back on the ice working on special teams and other systems work. With the injuries continuing to pile up for Penn State and all the exams this week and next, Balboni said it was best for the team to have a day off this week. "We've lightened up this week in terms of on-ice physical contact," he said. "Right now, we're just trying to get through the weekend, survive and get some guys healthy." While the team is spending less time on the ice, it doesn't mean Balboni is expecting any less intensity from his players. Although there was no practice Wednesday, he said he wanted the guys to not just hit the weight room, but to go "hard" during their workout to makeup for not practicing. "We're not going as much this week, but when we do go we're going hard," Balboni said. "We might not be on the ice, but we're going to lift hard Wednesday and, when we are on the ice, we're going to go hard, but we won't be out there as long." Unlike some other ACHA teams who start their seasons in September and hold scrimmages, Penn State doesn't start its season until the first weekend of October and doesn't participate in any preseason games or scrimmages. Therefore, the Icers only have a few weeks before the season to get in their conditioning and try to get in game shape before actually playing in any game situations against other teams. But regardless of what other teams are doing, Balboni said he likes to give his players time to settle into school and their academics before jumping into the hockey season. While Balboni acknowledged some opponents might have an advantage in conditioning and on-ice time right now, he said that time will all even out over the next five months. "We're a little behind in games played right now," he said, "but come nationals time, we'll be right there with everybody." To e-mail: Paul

Collins Out, Seravalli In

2009-11-04T15:38:22Z

As Kinslow tweeted last night, forward Kurt Collins will be out for a "couple of weeks" according to Penn State coach Scott Balboni. Collins hurt his shoulder when he was tripped and landed into the boards during Saturday's 8-2 win against West Virginia, but Balboni said there was no major damage and the x-rays were negative. Forward Nick Seravalli, however, will be back in the lineup this weekend at Navy. Seravalli hurt his finger during the second period Saturday, but practiced Tuesday after the team's off day and Balboni said he's "good to go." To e-mail: Copain

Ten Questions with Ryan Paradis

2009-11-04T02:57:29Z

Penn State Icers senior Ryan Paradis took an interesting path to Penn State. He started out his collegiate career at Elmira College in New York, but after realizing that wasn't for him, he transferred to Penn State and joined the Icers for his junior year. For more on Paradis' journey to Penn State and the Icers, be sure to keep an eye out for the story in the Collegian this week. But for now, let's get to now Paradis a little better through a little something we like to call TQT: 1. Who are your three favorite bands right now? A: Umphrey's McGee, Moe and probably Lynyrd Skynyrd. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, I can always listen to Skynyrd. 2. Who is your favorite Penn State athlete, not on the Icers? A: Former volleyball player, Nicole Fawcett. She's a good friend of mine and was national Player of the Year last year on a team that went undefeated, only dropping two sets. 3. What story or name are you tired of hearing about in the news? A: Well it seemed to be quiet lately, but all the talk about when Tom Brady is going to step back up and be the Super Bowl-winning quarterback he always has been for my Pats. 4. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be? A: Oh, there's so many. Favorite song of all-time is "Sweet Home Alabama" by Skynyrd, and two more just pure vibe and beat would be "Granny" by Dave Matthews Band and "Best Feeling" by Keller Williams. 5. What's the best Disney movie of all time? A: I'd probably have to say Miracle. 6. Who is the funniest guy on the team? A: Everyone pretty much contributes in their own way. We don't really have a flat out jokester this year, but if we do, I'd say it's Paul Daley. We don't really have a Mike Diethorn like last year where the kid is just always a goof ball, but probably Daley on the most consistent basis. 7. Best meal in town? A: Qdoba. Chicken Burrito. 8. If you had to go to school anywhere other than Penn State, where would it be? A: Hockey-wise, UNH. School-wise, probably UCLA. 9. If you could pull off the ultimate prank on anyone on the team, coach or player, who would it be and why? A: I think the most conventional answer here would be Kirstein, just because he gets so rattled with everything that happens, but I'm gonna actually say coach Balboni. Just because of the coach, authority figure thing and I'd say he's pretty much off limits, so it'd be good to get him. 10. What's the most exciting individual play in hockey? A: Most exciting individual play in hockey? Even though it's not a single play, I'm going to say a Gordie Howe hat trick is the most exciting play in hockey. Editor's note: For those not familiar with a "Gordie Howe hat trick," it is when a player scores a goal, records an assist and gets in a fight all in the same game. ---------------------------- That does it for another edition of TQT. Check back Thursday when we reveal another TQT, this time with sophomore forward Chris Cerutti. To e-mail: Paul

News and Notes: West Virginia

2009-10-31T23:45:04Z

Teddy Hume got the start in back-to-back games despite John Jay being the back-up both nights. Icers coach Scott Balboni made the decision because he thought Teddy played well on Friday and he wanted to go with same lineup as Friday. I talked to Balboni about the injuries to Kurt Collins and Nick Seravalli. Collins has a shoulder injury suffered falling into the boards on a tripping call in the second period and Seravalli hurt his finger taking a puck to it in the same period. Balboni did not know the extent of either injury, saying both would undergo tests over the next couple of days to find out the severity. Another injury suffered during the game afflicted junior forward Tim O'Brien. O'Brien went over to the bench in extreme pain in the first period barely making it over the bench. Following the game, O'Brien had ice taped to the leg and said it was a Charlie Horse, nothing more and that he'd be fine after the ice. To e-mail: Kinslow

Deeper Analysis of Icers' Injuries

2009-10-29T16:03:23Z

As we reported in the Collegian this morning, Matt Kirstein will be out three to five weeks with a sprained MCL and Taylor Cera will be out two to four weeks with a high left ankle sprain. The loss of both forwards is another tough break to an Icers squad that's had to deal with a good amount of injuries already. With both injuries, the timetable for returns are not set in stone. Icers coach Scott Balboni said with Cera's injury, it can either linger on or it can heal itself in a couple of weeks. Kirstein, who started rehabbing the injury before he went to the doctor Wednesday, also said the return schedule depends on how the injury heals. Just looking at the timetables, Cera could miss up to eight games and Kirstein could miss up to 10. If both players take the long end of the estimate, Cera could be back at the end of November for the two games against NCAA Division III Schools and Kirstein could be back for the first series with Delaware Dec. 4-5. The short end of the estimate could bring Cera back for the two games at Rhode Island Nov. 13-14 and Kirstein back Nov. 21-22 against Navy. In the next five weekends, Penn State has two games with West Virginia, four games with Navy, two at Rhode Island and a two day tournament against two NCAA Division III Schools. Not including the NCAA schools, here are the Icers' records against Navy, Rhode Island and West Virginia going back to 2000-01: Navy - 11-0 Rhode Island - 13-7-2 West Virginia - 13-0 Of those three teams, Rhode Island has given the Icers the most problems recently. But six of those losses came in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. In the last three seasons, Penn State is 9-1 against the Rams. Balboni will have a challenge replacing Cera and Kirstein, but at the same time the Icers have done well against the teams they'll play without the pair. But again, that's assuming the timetables strictly follow the plan. -Copain

Breaking Down Tim O'Brien's Season

2009-10-29T14:23:40Z

As we talked about in today's Collegian, junior forward Tim O'Brien has started to hit his stride offensively this season. O'Brien has had back-to-back strong weekends and seems to be rounding into form just as the Penn State Icers received news they will be without Matt Kirstein and Taylor Cera for a couple of weeks. So I decided to go game by game and break down O'Brien's season so you can see the increased production. Towson Oct 2: Icers win 4-3 in overtime. O'Brien went scoreless and did not assist on any of the goals. Oct 3: Icers win 15-3. O'Brien tallies a goal and an assist. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ohio Oct 9: Icers lose 2-1. O'Brien goes without a mention in the stat sheet once again. Oct 10: Icers win 4-3 in overtime. O'Brien assists on the game winning goal. For the season at this point: One goal, two assists. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Chester Oct 16: Icers win 7-1. O'Brien scores a goal and assists on two others, by far his best game of the season up to that point. Oct 17: Icers lose 4-3 in a shootout. O'Brien scores a goal and assists on another. This is where the junior starts to really put it together. The forward tallied more goals and assists in that weekend than he had in the previous two weekends combined. For the season at this point: Three goals, five assists. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drexel Oct 23: Icers win 6-3. The forward notches a goal as the Icers overcome a second period lapse to defeat the Dragons. Oct 24: Icers win 4-3. Another two goals for O'Brien as Penn State plays in what it believes is its best performance of the year. The junior matched his entire goal total for three weeks in a two day span and continued his hot streak. Over the last four games, O'Brien has racked up five goals and three assists. For the season, by my count, O'Brien has six goals, five assists. Now the Icers' site has him listed as having seven assists. I have gone over every box score three times and can only find five assists. Not sure what the deal is there. But assuming O'Brien keeps the pace he's set over the course of the season so far, he'd finish with: 36 goals and 30 assists. By comparison, in O'Brien's freshman year, he finished with 20 goals and 34 assists. A year later, O'Brien tallied 32 goals and 20 assists. So while it may have taken the junior some time to get started, which is most likely related to being off of the ice this summer while rehabbing a wrist injury, the forward has started to hit his stride as Penn State heads into the meat of it's schedule. It'll be interesting to see if O'Brien keeps his hot hand this weekend against West Virginia. To e-mail: Kinslow

Breaking: Kirstein out 3-5 Weeks

2009-10-28T21:48:45Z

As we reported yesterday, senior Matt Kirstein left yesterday's practice after taking a hit into the boards during a drill and limped out of the building to receive treatment. After a trip to the doctor today, the diagnosis is in. Sprained MCL. Three to five week timetable to return. Back on the shelf for the forward. Despite the obvious frustration, Kirstein didn't look back at the hit that caused his latest injury with anger. "When I got hit yesterday, his knee kind of hit my knee and I was pushed back into the boards," Kirstein said. "It was a clean hit, it was a little bit unfortunate-like experience to happen. But, you know it just sucks.That's what happens when you play the game. So, it's nothing too big." Check tomorrow's Daily Collegian where there will be more on this story and Taylor Cera's foot injury suffered last weekend. To e-mail: Kinslow

Tim O'Brien Weighs in on the World Series

2009-10-28T19:23:59Z

While at practice yesterday, I decided to have a little fun at the end of my interview with junior forward Tim O'Brien. I asked O'Brien who he had in the World Series, which kicks off tonight, if you couldn't tell by the large amount of Phillies and Yankees gear being sported around campus. The decision wasn't easy for the junior. O'Brien made it no secret that he strongly dislikes both teams but settled on the Yankees in six (he hopes four). Why four? "I hate the Phillies more than any baseball team in the world," O'Brien said. "I can't stand when all these kids are going crazy when they're winning games through campus." Just as a quick note, O'Brien is a native of Bethel Park, PA, which is about 20 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. So before any Phillies fans get up in arms, I think you can see where he's coming from. However, the forward did back up his claim. "I just think the Yankees' depth in their lineup will carry them in six games," O'Brien said. Also, O'Brien went with Alex Rodriguez as his series MVP so you heard it here first. Yankees in six, A-Rod as the MVP. To e-mail: Kinslow