Oct. 12, 2013
Sights and Sounds: Pegula Ice Arena Opening Night | BLOG: Hockey Valley Roars in Pegula Opener
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Under the bright new lights of Pegula Ice Arena, in front of a boisterous standing room only crowd of 6,370 fans and a national television audience on the Big Ten Network, the Nittany Lions showed everyone that Penn State hockey has a bright future.
A week of angst about whether or not the game would be played due to outside influences, led up to an emotional night that included a pregame speech from Terry Pegula - the namesake of the arena - and a capacity crowd of hockey-hungry fans. So, it was easy to see why the Penn State players came out with a lot of energy and butterflies.
"What a tremendous night," said head coach Guy Gadowsky. "It was a tremendous night for the Pegula family, Joe Battista and so many other people who dreamed of this [Division I hockey at Penn State]. To come away with a victory was so great, but the star of the show was definitely the student section."
The student section was in full-throat starting 90 minutes prior to the drop of the puck and when the Nittany Lions took the ice for pregame warm ups, the intensity in the building reached its height.
"We were all pretty jacked up," said freshman David Goodwin. "I don't think I really calmed down until late in the first half or it might have been during the [first] intermission."
One player that didn't come out with any nerves - or at least not as many as some - was senior Nate Jensen, who scored the first goal in Pegula Ice Arena history. Jensen's score broke the tension and calmed the nerves for some of his teammates, but he admitted he didn't really know who was credited with lighting the lamp.
"I didn't really know who scored," said Jensen. "Talyor [Holstrom] went to the ice with a celebration, so I wasn't sure who got it. It was a team effort on the goal and it is an honor to [score the first goal]. I'd say it was just a big goal for Penn State hockey."
The second puck that found the back of the net, however, may have been the biggest one for Penn State.
With Jonathan Milley in the penalty box after a roughing penalty, Curtis Loik broke free at center ice and finished a shorthanded effort to the low glove side of Army goaltender Rob Tadazak.
A Black Knight turnover created the two-on-one with Loik and Goodwin and the sophomore finished for his first goal of the season. It was the third shorthanded opportunity that Loik created, with the first two attempts sailing wide of the net, but he gave his team a huge lift and a two-goal lead.
"[The second goal] certainly made us feel a lot better," said Gadowksy. "After you kill so many penalties you start to believe that you should have the momentum. That second one was huge for [out momentum]. I think it calmed us down a little and I think if there was a turning point for us it was that."
Goodwin created the opportunity for the second score by forcing a turnover near center ice and was credited with the assist on the goal, but the rookie wasn't done scoring.
With eight minutes left in the game, Goodwin got a breakaway after another Black Knights misstep at mid-ice. He raced straight down the middle of the ice and buried a shot to the low stick-side of Tadazak to move the Penn State lead to 3-0.
"It was pretty crazy," said Goodwin. "The only thing I remember is Dylan [Richard] behind me telling me to shoot. I knew we had a two-one-zero, but later found out it was a three-on-zero. He was telling me to shoot, so I did. It was pretty sweet."
The Nittany Lions took a shutout into the final five minutes, but after killing off the first 10 penalties of the game, the 33 penalty minutes took their toll. The shutout second five-on-three opportunity produced the score for Army.
Good puck movement set up the goal for the Black Knights, as Willie Faust sent the puck from the bottom of the right faceoff circle across the crease and onto the stick of Mac Lalor, who beat Matthew Skoff to the stick side.
"There was traffic in front of the net and someone knocked my stick," said Skoff. "I thought it might have been [an Army player], but it turned out to be [Patrick] Koudys, who was trying to clear sticks from in front of me...but our guys really worked hard in front of me tonight."
The hard work was all over the ice for the Lions.
Penn State outshot Amry, 35-26, and blocked 18 shots in front of Skoff. The sophomore goaltender made 25 saves and Eric Scheid added an empty netter to account for the final margin of 4-1.
Afterwards the Nittany Lions players were all smiles when they talked about playing inside of Pegula Ice Arena.
"When there's a packed barn like that and the fans are yelling, you get nervous for those kind of games," said Jensen, "but it was fun."