The Penn State men's hockey game at Fredonia State (Division III) that was scheduled for Tuesday night has been postponed due to Hurricane Sandy.
The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.
The announcement was made via the team's Twitter account, Monday morning.
Fredonia, N.Y. is located 50 miles southwest of Buffalo.
As a result, the Nittany Lions will return to home ice Saturday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m., for a rematch against Buffalo State (Division III) at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.
With two minutes to go, it looked as if Penn State was about to win its first conference and home game. All of that changed with a goal from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and each team left the ensuing overtime with its first tie in Division I.
After three losses inside the confines of Greenberg Ice Pavilion, the Nittany Lions (2-5-1, 0-3-1 CHA) got off to a hot start Friday. They put two goals on the scoreboard quickly, giving them a slim cushion to work with throughout the game.
Team captain Taylor Gross began the night's scoring with a power play goal early in the first period, her second goal of the season. Shannon Yoxheimer then doubled the Lions' lead with her team-leading sixth goal of the season, only 23 seconds later.
“It kind of put them on their toes,” Yoxheimer said of the early momentum. “It kind of made us a little more comfortable and kind of settled us down.”
The Tigers (4-3-1, 1-2-1 CHA) quickly fought back, scoring a power play goal in the final minutes of the opening period and dominating puck possession when the second period began.
However, goalie Nicole Paniccia kept the Tigers from tying the game until the final two minutes of regulation. She recorded a career-high 59 saves and held off multiple rallies in front of the net.
With less than two minutes to go, though, a last-ditch effort by the Tigers resulted in their second goal. Penn State head coach Josh Brandwene said it was a great learning lesson for his team to “hit the reset button” and re-focus with some regulation left and overtime following.
Neither team could score during the five-on-five, sudden death overtime following regulation that lasted for five minutes. Although the Lions did not pick up the win, they did get their first point in the Conference Hockey America standings.
After the game, Brandwene commended his team for the effort they showed all game.
“Despite getting so close there at the end, this was such an important day for this hockey program, because the preparation and the start of the game was a good as we've had all season,” Brandwene said. “And that is something that I'm so proud of these kids for.”
We caught up with freshman forward Shannon Yoxheimer and asked her a few questions. Listen as Shannon talks about her favorite rap artists, her pre-game rituals and her hometown of Jackson, Michigan. Check out the print version of The Daily Collegian for the full feature.
We caught up with players and coach Walsh after practice before they head to Purdue tomorrow. Walsh talks about growing up on 11 acres and her knowledge of obscure sports.
No. 7 Penn State (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) is coming off a 3-0 victory over No. 21 ranked Ohio State, which places them in a tie with No. 8 Northwestern atop the Big Ten. Bucknell (9-7, 3-1 Patriot League) defeated Lehigh, 6-2, in its last contest, which has earned them a spot in the Patriot League postseason.
Players to Watch
Senior forward Kelsey Amy is always a star to look for, but keep an eye on midfielders Whitney Reddig and Hannah Allison to provide the Nittany Lions with the backbone of their play. Reddig leads the team with 14 assists and has been in great form as of late, with two huge assists coming against Ohio State. Allison, the senior leader of the midfield, has a tendency to move up with the forwards and fire shots on goal. Out of the midfielders, she's second to only Laura Gebhart in shots on goal (43 to Gebhart's 45). The senior also provides plenty of communication and chemistry out of the midfield.
For Bucknell, sophomore midfielder Amie Pritchard had a hat-trick against Lehigh and will look to give the Nittany Lions' defense some issues. Her counterpart, Maggie Murphy, leads the team in assists (10). The duo are in good form and could be a difference for the Bison.
Significance
Realistically, with respect to Bucknell, the contest should be a warm-up game for the Lions as they focus on Saturday's matchup with No. 20 Michigan State. Expect some players who don't see regular playing time come in for the Lions, as well as plenty of Kelsey Amy goals. A victory here could help continue the Lions' momentum into the weekend.
Penn State seems to have picked up a bad habit of winning "ugly."
After racing to a 2-0 lead on Saturday, the No. 1 Nittany Lions (20-1, 10-0) seemed to have the win in the bag. However, the Lions nearly gave the match away, letting Michigan (16-8, 4-6) capture the third and fourth sets.
With a perfect in-conference record on the line, the Lions seemed to wake up before starting the fifth set, as they got out to a 5-0 lead. From there they didn't let up and won the deciding set, 15-10.
Deja McClendon led the Lions with a huge performance; 16 kills and a team-leading 29 digs Micha Hancock led Penn State with 53 assists, but was again hindered by service errors -- committing five against Michigan.
In total, Penn State hit .232, which towered above Michigan's .152 hitting percentage.
The Penn State men's hockey team pulled off an upset against the Rochester Institute of Technology, 3-2, in front of 10,556 rowdy fans at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.
Sophomore goalie P.J. Musico stopped a barrage of shots from the Tigers as the Nittany Lions were outshot 42-22.
Freshman forward Curtis Loik and sophomore forward Max Gardiner each scored their first goals of the season, while freshman forward Casey Bailey scored his second goal of the season.
The Lions led the game by two goals with under 10 minutes left in the third period, but the Tigers pulled within a goal after the puck got by Musico with just over five minutes left. It got worse when senior forward George Saad was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct after checking from behind.
The Lions would have to kill off a penalty for the remainder of regulation. Musico and the Penn State penalty kill were able to hold off the final charge from the Tigers.
Eleven members of the Penn State men’s soccer team took on 100 local youth soccer players from the Centre Soccer Association during halftime of Friday night’s women’s game at Jeffrey Field.
The kids defeated the Nittany Lions 2-0. Centre Soccer Association is a local youth soccer program. The program offers several different opportunities to play competitive soccer, including a traveling program and developmental leagues.
Ages eight to 14 participated in Friday night’s event. Along with the halftime match, a free pre-game skills clinic was offered.
Click here to view a video of the halftime contest.
Penn State’s power play finally came through on Saturday as the Nittany Lions won 6-1 over Sacred Heart at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, Ct..
Before the game, the Lions had not scored on special teams all season. That all changed once the puck dropped, as the first three goals the team scored came on the power play.
Team captain Taylor Gross gave the Lions an early 1-0 lead, finding the net six minutes into the game. While it was the team’s first power play goal of the season, it was also Gross’ first goal as a Nittany Lion.
Shannon Yoxheimer, who assisted Gross’ goal, doubled the lead on the Pioneers with a goal about two minutes later. Gross registered an assist on Yoxheimer’s goal, giving each player two points within the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Pioneers scored first in the second period, with their lone goal coming from a power play, too.
After Jeanette Bateman netted a goal before the second intermission, the Lions put the game away for good in the third period with three goals.
Nicole Paniccia, who allowed two goals on 28 shots in Friday’s 2-1 loss, was in goal again for the Lions. She recorded a solid stat line, allowing the single special teams goal while stopping 25 shots.
Check Monday’s edition of The Daily Collegian for more on Saturday’s game against Sacred Heart.
The No. 7 Penn State field hockey team shut out the No. 21 Buckeyes on Friday, winning 3-0 in Columbus.
The victory has the Nittany Lions in the driver's seat for the Big Ten championship, as the team now sits atop the conference with a 4-1 record and an overall record of 13-3.
Kelsey Amy scored twice to pace the victory, earning her 20th and 21st goals of the season. Junior midfielder Whitney Reddig assisted on both goals, giving her a team-high 14 assists on the season.
The Lions will return home for an non-conference matchup against Bucknell on Tuesday before hitting the road one more time to take on conference opponent Michigan State on Friday.
Despite outshooting Buffalo State College (Division III), 19-7 in the first period, the Penn State men's hockey team could not get going offensively in a 3-0 defeat to the Bengals at Buffalo State Ice Arena.
As a result of rough play, the penalty boxes were rarely empty as both teams combined for 29 penalties totaling 83 penalty minutes, including two game misconducts. Freshman defenseman Joseph Lordo was ejected after getting a five-minute major for charging.
All of the Bengals' goals came on the power play as they went 3-for-11 while the Nittany Lions could not score on nine power plays of their own, including two five-minute majors against BSC.
The second intermission came early after Buffalo State forward Taylor McGraw hit the boards head first after getting checked by Lions' sophomore forward Bryce Johnson. McGraw laid on his back for several minutes before being wheeled off the ice on a stretcher. McGraw received an ovation when he waved to the crowd as he was taken off the ice. Johnson got a two-minute minor for hooking from the play.
The teams went to the locker rooms with 3:11 left in the period while the ice was resurfaced. The remaining time was played before the teams switched sides for the third period that started right away.
Once play resumed, the hard hits kept coming and resulted in 12 of the 29 penalties. Penn State was able to put 10 more shots on goal in the third period but still could not score as BSC goalie Kevin Carr managed to stop all of the Lions' 35 shots.
Penn State will not have a lot of time to dwell on the loss as they will travel to Rochester to face R.I.T. Saturday night at Blue Cross Arena.
Penn State (1-4, 0-2 CHA) achieved one of its goals this weekend by outshooting Sacred Heart (1-2), but the Nittany Lions ultimately fell 2-1.
The Lions fell behind early in the game when Pioneers’ right winger Alanna Woodford found the back of goalie Nicole Paniccia’s net just over two minutes into the contest.
The Pioneers added another goal when center Sara Hanna notched her first score of the season late in the second period on a power play.
Lions left winger Shannon Yoxheimer tried to get a rally going when she scored her third goal of the year with just over two minutes left in the final period, but it was not enough as the team ultimately ran out of time.
The Lions outshot their opponent for the first time in first five games of the season by putting 42 shots on net to the Pioneers’ 28 shots.
However, the Lions continued their struggle on the power play as the team failed to score on three opportunities.
Sacred Heart head coach Thomas O’Malley said staying out of the penalty box was one of the keys to victory earlier in the week. The Lions were penalized four times including one that put them short handed when the game-winning goal was scored.
The team will get a chance to redeem the loss and earn a weekend split with the Pioneers when the two squads face off at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Sophomore forward Max Gardiner is the subject of this week's Q and A. Gardiner even reveals what it would take to get him to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
This is the inaugural edition of the Thursday Conversation segment with the Penn State women's hockey team. I asked freshman forward Birdie Shaw ten questions about herself including items on her bucket list and her favorite professional hockey team. Check out the print version of the Daily Collegian for the feature story on Birdie Shaw.
Erica Walsh took a break from her busy schedule as the head coach of the No. 4 Penn State women's soccer team to talk with us about her love for Philly sports and her respect for the other Penn State coaches.
In his first season at Penn State, transfer Mikey Minutillo has faced many obstacles while battling injuries.
After suffering a sprained right MCL in late August against Hartford, the junior was forced to sit out three games and the attacker struggled with his match fitness. Minutillo played 45 minutes in his return against Albany on Sept. 14.
When Minutillo has been on the field, the Lions' offense has thrived as the 6-foot-1 attacker has created opportunities up top with his clever through balls, often playing to forward Julian Cardona.
Minutillo has one goal and an assist in eight games this season.
The attacker continued to struggle with his fitness as he missed games against Michigan and Akron in early October due to the nagging injury.
Minutillo returned against Michigan State and helped the offense up top in his 52 minutes of play. While he did not register a shot, the junior's presence helped open up space for midfielder Daniel Burnham to get in behind defense and score the first goal in the 20th minute.
With a midweek game against Bucknell on Wednesday -- the team's fourth game in 11 days -- coach Bob Warming hopes that Minutillo can build on a positive game against the Spartans.
“I thought Mikey's fitness is not good enough yet but he and Julian, we looked like a different team when those two guys were in,” Warming said. “Julian and Mikey were unbelievable in the first 25 minutes.”
With her three goal, one assist performance against No. 12 Iowa this past Sunday, senior forward Kelsey Amy was named the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week.
This will be the second time this season Amy has received the award, with her first recognition coming off her performances earlier in the season against then-No. 3 Old Dominion and then-No. 8 Virginia.
Amy's hat trick was crucial in leading the No. 7 Penn State field hockey team past the Hawkeyes, 5-1. She played a part in the other two goals as well, assisting on one while having one of her shots rebound out to a teammate for the other.
Amy has scored in 12 of 15 contests this season and leads the Nittany Lions with 46 points and 19 goals. The game Sunday was the 24th multi-goal game of her career, and she now sits third all-time in Penn State field hockey history in both goals and points scored.
Pat Chambers added a fourth recruit to his 2013 class Monday.
Graham Woodward, a three-star guard according to Rivals.com, tweeted "Officially a Pennsylvania State Nittany Lion!!" on Monday morning.
Woodward is listed at 6-foot-0, 165 pounds and also had offers from Gonzaga, Princeton, Vermont and Washington State, among other schools. An Edina, Minn. native, Woodward will be entering his senior season at Edina High School.
He also plays AAU basketball with the Minnesota Pump N' Run.
Guard Geno Thorpe, small forward Payton Banks and power forward Julian Moore are the three other recruits that round out Penn State's 2013 class. All four commits in the class are rated as three-star players.
The addition of Woodward helps fill the void left in the class by Brandon Austin, a 6-foot-6, four-star small forward who decommitted from Penn State in July.
The 2012-13 version of the Nittany Lions officially opened practice on Friday and their regular season begins on Nov. 9 when St. Francis (PA) visits the Bryce Jordan Center.
Following suit with their two games against Vermont last weekend, the Nittany Lions (1-2-0) continued to be out shot by their opponents Saturday. This time, College Hockey America foe Syracuse (1-2-0) out shot the team, 57-21, leading to a 4-0 shutout of the Lions in their home opener.
Goaltender Nicole Paniccia faced 28 shots in the first period alone, but she stopped all of the Orange’s attempts. The Lions’ offense was only able to put three shots on Syracuse goaltender Jenesica Drinkwater as the teams entered the locker room during the first intermission knotted at zero.
“Personally, I really like when you get a lot of shots,” Paniccia said. “You’re always focused, you’re always in the game and there’s not really time that you have to just twiddle your thumbs.”
Forward Micayla Catanzariti, last week’s CHA Rookie of the Week, racked up three penalties in the first 20 minutes of play. She was called for slashing, high sticking and checking.
Just over three minutes into the second period, Syracuse right winger Nicole Ferrara put one past Paniccia for the first score of the game. About four minutes later, fellow Orange right winger Melissa Piacentini received a pass behind the Lion defense and broke away to a one-on-one with Paniccia. Piacentini faked a shot to the left and put it in the net on the right side for a 2-0 Syracuse lead.
Paniccia said she sets her mind to refocus after every shot, whether it is by taking a drink of water or skating around the net. She also said abides by the saying, “stay at five,” which means to not get too confident or worried depending on the previous play.
The Lions were able to turn up the offensive pressure in the latter half of the second period, including a breakaway by forward Birdie Shaw, but Drinkwater came up with a save. Drinkwater added a few glove saves to keep the Lions off the scoreboard.
“I was really just trying to stay focused,” Drinkwater said. “That first period, I didn’t really have a lot of shots. Mentally, I just had to keep focused and I just came up with the saves, I guess, every time.
Head coach Josh Brandwene said the second period was the Lions’ best period and it was an even one for the both teams. He also said his group had opportunities to score, but yesterday was a day where those shots did not fall.
The Orange continued their attack and scored another goal over six minutes into the third period. Paniccia was sprawled on the ice after attempting to save the puck and Syracuse center Shiann Darkangelo shot on the exposed net. Paniccia threw her glove in an attempt to block the puck, but she was unable to stop it.
The Orange added a late goal when left winger Holly Carrie-Mattimoe found the back of the net before time ran out.
“Overall, we gave a good effort, but we certainly have a lot to learn moving forward,” Brandwene said.
The Lions look to avoid a sweep by the Orange when the two teams square off again at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The Lady Lions are officially back in action and look to repeat as Big Ten regular season champions. The squad held its first practice of the season in the Bryce Jordan Center and allowed fans and spectators to come and watch.
After some routine stretching and warm-up activities, the Lions broke down into groups to do drills and eventually scrimmage their practice team. The scrimmage against a group of six men featured some intense moments at times.
It’s clear that head coach Coquese Washington has the program doing well and there’s no doubt that she expects her squad to improve on their Sweet 16 appearance from a year ago. During the scrimmage, whenever a player was slacking or not going hard, Washington acknowledged it and had players subbed off the court to do sit-ups and ride the exercise bike.
These “punishments,” if you will, should help to get the team ready for their upcoming season and hopefully will instill a work ethic in the team that will help them have another successful season.
In the two eight-minute scrimmage sessions, the practice squad guys won the first, 23-19. Then Washington got her squad fired up.
The Lions came out and won the second scrimmage 11-10, despite not having their best offensive performance. In each of the scrimmages, Washington had various members of her staff and athletic personal charting stats and recording what was going on. She set goals for her team in terms of rebounds, points, and turnovers that she helped to assess her team’s play. It was not just based on scoring.
From what I could tell, the Lions will be a better team than last season and I have them going to the Elite 8, with the potential to make the Final Four in New Orleans, depending on who they would face down the road. There will be some tough non-conference games for the squad as they take to the road to face Texas A&M, Miami, and UConn.
Two new additions to the Lions this season are true freshman forward/center Candice Agee and redshirt junior guard Dara Taylor. Taylor was ineligible to play last season for the Lions, as she had to sit out due to NCAA rules because of transferring from Maryland.
With Taylor’s quickness combined with Alex Bentley’s crafty ball handling and smart decision making, and Maggie Lucas’ excellent shooting ability, the Lions will be very tough to defend at the guard positions. Down low the Lions feature Nikki Green and Mia Nickson who are both big playmakers.
Washington has not yet announced her starting roster, but I believe that it will be the five just mentioned, four of which are returning starters.
The Lions have a scrimmage against California (PA) on Nov. 3 before opening the regular season at home against Howard on Nov. 11.
The No. 1 Nittany Lions (17-1, 7-0 Big Ten) swept No. 17 Purdue last evening 3-0 to remain undefeated in conference play and at home.
Junior outsider hitter DejaMcClendon led the way for the Lions with 12 kills, while Ariel Scott, Katie Slay, and Megan Courtney each registered nine kills apiece. As a unit, the squad registered a .393 hitting percentage, while Slay shined with a .750 clip, connecting on nine of her 12 attacks.
The Lions passed the ball well and recorded 42 assists, 14 more than the Boilermakers could post. Sophomore setter Micha Hancock tallied 38 dimes and recorded a service ace — one of four that the team had.
Since conference play began almost a month ago with a 3-1 victory over No. 3 Nebraska, the Lions have been running through opponents in a very tough Big Ten conference. According to the most recent rankings released by the NCAA last Monday, seven Big Ten schools are ranked in the Top 25. In conference play this season, the Lions have won their matches by a combined set score of 21-4 — including a 3-0 sweep on the road at No. 10 Minnesota.
With the 25-19, 25-16, 25-16 win over the Boilermakers, the Lions remain perfect at Rec Hall this season. Much like their domination in the conference, the Lions have only dropped four sets at home as well, with two of them coming to No. 4 Stanford in the squad’s 3-2 win over the Cardinal in the first weekend of September.
Tonight the Lions will host Indiana at 7 in hopes of remaining unbeaten in conference play. A win would put the Lions on a 12-game win streak heading back to the road for a Wednesday night affair at No. 19 Ohio State.
Top selling rapper Big Sean will perform as the Penn State women’s and men’s basketball teams celebrate the beginning of their seasons at the 2012-2013 Hoops Madness on Oct 25.
The second annual event will host 2012 BET Best New Artist of the Year at the event. It will be held at Rec Hall and doors will open at 6:30 p.m with Hoops Madness starting at 7:30. Along with Big Sean, Penn State’s own Mike Wallz will perform with a special guest.
Fans will be able to participate in contests, win prizes and enjoy the music artists as well as the Pride of Lions Pep Band, Lionettes dance team, Penn State Cheerleaders and the Nittany Lion.
The free event will finish with introductions and dance performances from players of both teams and a performance from Big Sean. One fan will also be chosen at random to attempt a half court shot to win $10,000. Other prizes include free books for the spring semester.
The event will give a chance for both teams, including the coaching staffs, to be introduced to Nittany Nation, the student cheering section of the basketball audience. Last year’s Hoops Madness event featured a performance from rapper Fabolous and a slam-dunk contest.
Both Penn State`s men and women basketball teams will play exhibitions on Nov. 3 at home. The men’s team will play Philadelphia University, while the women take on California (PA). The men will open the official season Nov. 9 against St. Francis, while the Lady Lions will open with Howard on Nov. 11.
In the Penn State women’s hockey team's inaugural weekend, forward Micayla Catanzariti backed up head coach Josh Brandwene’s comments earlier in the week when he said his freshman class was “phenomenal.”
Catanzariti had a three-point performance in the Nittany Lions’ history making 5-3 victory over Vermont on Saturday.
Catanzariti scored the game-tying and go-ahead goals in the second period before capping her day off with an assist on fellow freshman forward Birdie Shaw’s empty-net goal.
The College Hockey Association (CHA), comprised of six schools, recognized Catanzariti’s play and named her Rookie of the Week. This award is not the California native’s first in her thus-short hockey career. Catanzariti is the owner of two bronze medals, which she picked up at the USA National Championships in 2009 and 2010.
Catanzariti was not the only Lion to be acknowledged by the CHA this weekend. Freshman forward Shannon Yoxheimer had a two-goal performance of her own on Saturday against the Catamounts, which earned her a spot on the CHA “Honor Roll.”
Yoxheimer tallied the first goal in Penn State women’s hockey history as well as the first game-winning goal for the program. She led the team with 10 shots during her weekend in Burlington.
The freshmen look to impress at home when the team plays its first Division I and CHA game on Oct. 13 against Syracuse.
Despite being heavily out shot and allowing early goals on power plays, the Penn State women's hockey team beat Vermont, 5-3, in the program's first game Saturday.
The Catamounts took an early 2-1 lead in the first period, capitalizing on two power play opportunities. Freshman Emily Laurenzi received a two-minute minor for tripping at the 13:01 mark of the first period, and Vermont's Brittany Zuback scored the game's first goal with 20 seconds left in the ensuing power play. Freshman Shannon Yoxheimer quickly tied the game with the Nittany Lions' first goal in team history, but a checking penalty on Taylor McGee within 30 seconds of the goal put the Catamounts back on the power play. The one-player advantage did not last long; 15 seconds into the power play, Delia McNally scored Vermont’s second goal.
After the first intermission, though, the Lions did not commit another penalty. The full-strength play helped the Lions stay on the offensive, as they scored three consecutive goals. Freshman Micayla Catanzariti found the back of the net twice in the second period, and Yoxheimer put the team up 4-2 midway through the third period.
Emily Walsh would cut the Catamounts’ deficit in half, but freshman Birdie Shaw put the game away with an empty net goal in the final minute.
Yoxheimer and Catanzariti’s led the game with their two goals. Sophomore Jess Desorcie and junior Taylor Gross, the team’s captain, both led the game with two assists.
Nicole Paniccia started in goal for the Lions. She saved 31 shots and allowed three goals as Vermont out shot the Lions, 34-24.
The game was the regular season opener for each team. The two teams will play again on Sunday at 2 p.m. Additional statistics for Saturday’s game can be found at: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1213/boxes/wpsuver1.o06
The reoccurring theme of the Penn State men's soccer team's past few games showed up again Saturday night. Despite controlling play for most of the game, the Nittany Lions (6-3-2, 1-1-1 Big Ten) could not take advantage of their chances in a 1-1 draw against Michigan (3-5-1, 1-1-1 Big Ten).
The Lions outshot Michigan 26-10, a season high in shots for Penn State, but it took until the 83rd minute for the Lions to get on the board.
Playing from behind for most of the game after conceding a fourth minute goal to forward T.J Roehn, the Lions were able to equalize on defender Akil Howard's first goal of the season.
Howard took advantage of a loose ball in the box that fell to him and he tucked it home in the right corner from a few yards out.
While the Lions had a chance to win it in OT, the Wolverines cleared a shot from Marvin Ledgister off the line and the teams had to settle for a draw.
Key points from the game:
Hasani Sinclair makes his first start of the season: After impressing against Indiana and having a great week of practice, coach Bob Warming rewarded Sinclair with his first start of the season. The 6-foot-1 forward impressed in his 75 minutes of playing time. Sinclair registered three shots (two on target) and notched his second assist of the season.
Goalie rotation continues: Warming continued his rotation of the goalie's playing time as Andrew Wolverton got the start in place of Emmanuel Martin. Wolverton had very little to do throughout the night, saving one shot as Michigan registered just three shots on target.
Penn State Man of the Match: Midfielder Marvin Ledgister was a nuisance to the Wolverines defense all night. The senior registered five shots, all on target, and forced Michigan goalie Adam Grinwis to come up with a couple outstretched saves in overtime to keep the game tied.
Penn State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State, and Robert Morris are participating in a four-team hockey tournament called the Three Rivers Classic. Tickets are now on sale for the inaugural showcase, which will be held at the home rink of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the CONSOL Energy Center. The tourney will run Dec. 28-29, and Penn State opens play against Robert Morris at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. Ohio State and Miami (Ohio) play at 7:30 p.m.
Starting Friday, Oct. 5 at 10:00 a.m., tickets for all four games will be made available to the public. Packages for all four games will cost $25, while individual game tickets will be announced at a later date.The CONSOL Energy Center will also host this year's Frozen Four.
“It’s an exciting year for Penn State hockey and to be able to play at an NHL arena like CONSOL Energy Center will be a highlight for our team,” Guy Gadowsky, the head coach who will lead the Nittany Lions into their first year at the Division I level, said in an interview with NHL.com. “Pittsburgh is a great hockey city, and we look forward to showing the fans what Nittany Lion hockey is all about.”
Retaining its eight highest scorers from a season ago, many expected the Penn State field hockey team would find ways to score goals over the course of its season, especially with returning first-team All-American Kelsey Amy leading the Nittany Lions up front.
Amy has done her job, leading the Lions (10-3, 2-1) with 15 goals in 13 games on the season, which has helped make the Lions' offensive attack among the most powerful in the Big Ten.
The team is first in scoring average in the conference, scoring 4.3 goals per game - just above Northwestern's 3.75 average and a full goal ahead of Iowa, who sits in third with 3.25 goals per game.
And in scoring margin, which compares the average goals per game versus the average goals given up, the Lions lead the conference with a 2.61 margin. In short, the Lions’ incredible ability to get down the field in score goals has been a big reason why the team has remained so successful this season.
And considering that coach Charlene Morett has been better known for her players' defensive prowess over the years, her 2012 team's success in front of goal is noteworthy.
Amy paced the Lions' attack early on in the season, but as of late, more and more players have joined the fray. Defensive back Brittany Grzywacz continues to be the team's penalty stroke expert with four goals taken in four attempts, but has also scored five goals of her own from the field. Her .321 shot percentage is second on the team to only junior forward AshtinKlinger, who has a .348 percent (min: 20 attempts).
Klinger in particular has been fantastic the last few games for the Lions, scoring four goals in their three conference games, including two decisive goals in Penn State's 4-3 win over rival Michigan.
Klinger has helped Amy up front significantly this season, but the Lions are also getting tremendous scoring options from their midfield, a unit that is unafraid to fly forward and shoot when given an opportunity.
Stalwarts Laura Gebhart and Hannah Allison have each had 36 shots on goal this season, the most of anyone on the team not named Amy. Gebhart has produced five goals from her shots, while Allison has produced six.
Gebhart ranks second on the team in total points overall, as she’s also tied for the team lead in assists with Whitney Reddig, each of whom have 10. Midfielder Lauren Purvis and forwards Jenna Chrismer and Taylor Herold help spread- out the scoring options for the Lions as well. Each player has three goals so far this season while thriving in the Lions' offensive minded game-plan.
So while Amy continues to dominate up front as a goal-scoring and shot-producing machine, her teammates have stepped up and filled in the holes when they've needed to, which is why Penn State looks like a force to be reckoned, especially on the offensive side, as the season enters its latter half.
Penn State men’s soccer midfielder and captain John Gallagher is suspended for Saturday’s date in Ann Arbor against Michigan.
Gallagher, who also missed the Nittany Lions' 1-0 defeat to No. 11-ranked Indiana this past weekend, was given a red card in the final minute of Penn State’s (6-3-1) contest against Lehigh on Sept. 25.
After a scuffle in the 89th minute, Gallagher and Lehigh’s Brian Suchoski were sent off the pitch.
Per NCAA rule 12.12.1, any player or coach ejected from a game cannot participate in the next regularly scheduled game, including the postseason.
Because Gallagher received a red card and subsequent ejection at Lehigh, he was fully expected to serve his suspension against Indiana.
However, the fact that he’s must sit out a second consecutive game could mean that the Big Ten or NCAA has looked further into the matter and deemed it worthy of an extended suspension.
The senior has been a key cog in Lions' midfield in 2012 and takes most of the team's free kicks and corners.
Gallagher has yet to score a goal this year, but has two assists to his name.
