Oct. 20, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman Kevin Kerr has experienced early success on the ice in his first few games as a Nittany Lion. Kerr, who hails from outside of Philadelphia, is one of seven players on the Penn State roster from the Keystone State who hope that Penn State will be a standard for the sport of hockey in Pennsylvania.
Kerr, who is from Bensalem, northeast of Philadelphia, is just one of many thousands of Pennsylvanians who can trace their familial roots to the University.
"For me, I grew up and I was always a big Penn State fan my whole life," said Kerr. "I have many family connections to the school."
When asked about if he ever envisioned himself playing hockey for the Nittany Lions, Kerr explained he didn't ever think it would be possible during his time in college. The Nittany Lions did not have a Division I hockey program until the 2012-13 season.
"Obviously growing up they didn't have the Division I program yet," said Kerr. "To find out they were getting the program and a new arena and everything, it was amazing. It all just fell into place."
The defenseman, who has played in all three games this season, commented that playing college hockey in his home state is something special for him.
"It means a lot to play for a Pennsylvania team," said Kerr. "I get people talking to me all the time from home and I have a lot of friends who go here, so those guys come to the games and things like that."
With the addition of several Pennsylvania recruits this season, head coach Guy Gadowsky hopes to attract future Nittany Lions from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and everywhere in between. Both cities have large populations of youth hockey players and established youth club programs.
"The better that we do, the easier recruiting is going to be both inside Pennsylvania and outside of Pennsylvania," said Gadowsky.
Kerr added that attracting Pennsylvanians is important to the program.
"A lot of people from home, when the program started kind of questioned how the new program would go," said Kerr. "But with how well the team has progressed over the years and the program, it's taken a big step forward, it's a big honor to be from Pennsylvania and play for this program now."
For Kerr, his freshman season will see several firsts for the young player. Kerr notched his first point against Canisius, an assist on David Glenn's second period power play goal. His second point, also an assist on the power play, came on Alec Marsh's goal against Notre Dame last Saturday.
As far as the rest of his freshman season goes, Kerr is excited to play in front of a familiar crowd of friends and family when the Nittany Lions head to Philadelphia in November.
"For me Wells-Fargo has been circled on my schedule for a while now, " said Kerr. "Any time you can play in the stadium you grew up since you were little watching the Flyers play in is going to be cool."
Many of his immediate and extended family members will be in attendance when the Nittany Lions take on Vermont as part of the Philadelphia College Faceoff Challenge in Philadelphia.
"[My family has] already been talking about that with tickets and everything and trying to get everyone there," said Kerr.
When asked about the future of the sport of hockey in Pennsylvania, Kerr hopes the addition of a successful Division I program will attract younger players to the sport.
"Hockey has always been big," said Kerr. "But now that there's a team in Pennsylvania there's going to be a lot of guys from the Pittsburgh area and from around me in Philadelphia who will see the success of the Penn State and hopefully pick it up. Them being able to watch the program and see it on the Big Ten Network, I think just the exposure will do a lot for the sport."