Aug. 18, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State men's hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky completed his roster for the 2015-16 campaign on Tuesday afternoon with the addition of freshman forward Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.).
"A leader both on the ice and in the community," said Gadowsky. "We expect Andrew to hit the ground running when he arrives on campus. His tenacious, competitive nature combined with an ability to consistently create offense will make him a handful for opposing defensemen."
Sturtz arrives in Hockey Valley coming off two tremendous years in the Central Canadian Hockey League for the Carleton Place Canadians. In 2013-14, Sturtz led the CCHL in scoring (104 points), scoring 51 times and providing 53 assists during the regular season. In the playoffs, Sturtz added 10 goals and nine assists in 14 games, averaging 1.71 points per game in 72 contests. For his efforts he was named CCHL MVP and CJHL Player of the Year.
Last season, Sturtz had another impressive campaign, scoring 30 times and dishing 42 assists. In the playoffs, Sturtz improved by scoring nine times with 13 assists in 12 games (1.83 points per game). During Sturtz's time with Carleton Place, he led the Canadians to a pair of Bogart Cups, Fred Page Cups and trips to the Royal Bank Cup.
Sturtz, who will turn 21 in September, will wear No. 16 this season.
Andrew Sturtz
F // 5-8 // 180 // Sept. 21, 1994 // Buffalo, N.Y. // Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL)
Sturtz on Penn State: "I chose Penn State is because of the atmosphere on the campus at all times. The day I arrived for my visit and watched a game at The Pegula Ice Arena, I knew it was the school for me. The students all seem to have a great bond and really love getting the energy going for all of their sports teams. I look forward to the four years I get to spend in the Penn State community. I also look forward to playing some games in front of the best student section in college hockey."
Sturtz joins the already announced newcomers of Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.), Kevin Kerr (Bensalem, Pa.), Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.), Matt Mendelson (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Chris Funkey (Orland Park, Ill.), Derian Hamilton (Port McNeill, British Columbia) and Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn.).
The Nittany Lions enter their fourth NCAA Division I season with the Big Ten's leading returning scorer in David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.), who had 15 goals and 19 assists in 2014-15. Goodwin's output was followed by Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) who tallied 14 goals and 15 assists.
Penn State opens its 2015-16 campaign Oct. 4 by hosting the University of Windsor for The International Game at Pegula Ice Arena. Tickets remain for the contest via TicketMaster.com. The regular-season opens the following week, Oct. 10, at Canisius.