Oct. 28, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The dynamic duo of sophomore Erik Autio and freshman Vince Pedrie have found their footing on defense this season.
Autio and Pedrie have stood out on the ice, based on both their individual successes and their performance as a pair.
This past weekend in a series of wins against AIC; Autio notched his first goal of the 2015-16 campaign, and had an assist.
"It's kind of great to get that off my back this early," said Autio. "Last year I went to like February when I think to get my goal, so it definitely gets a load off my back."
Pedrie has also found his way onto the box score. Pedrie has contributed two assists this season and also leads all Nittany Lions defensemen on shots on goal with 19.
"I think it's kind of what I was brought here to do," said Pedrie. "It's just something I try to do which is shoot the puck at the net as much as I can and I hope to continue that."
Autio explained the secret to finding chemistry with another player on defense is the ability to communicate, but also being able to feed off of the other player's movement on the ice.
"We both try and join the rush a little bit on the play, get some shots on net, and I think it kind of helps us out because we both know where we're going when we're going toward the offensive zone," said Autio.
As a defensive pairing, both players prefer to play a similar style of hockey. As a result, they are able to anticipate one another's actions and know where they need to be when the other joins in on a play. Their ability to anticipate the actions of the other has resulted in both players having a plus-3 rating for the season so far.
"I'm more offensive-minded like Erik," said Pedrie. "I like hopping in the rush, but I know if I see Erik jumping in then I know to hold back or if he holds back then I know to go. I think we just read off each other well in that style and it's a lot of fun to play this way."
The duo has been paired in all five games this season, a partnership both players agree has worked well for them and has allowed each of them to play to their best abilities by feeding off of the other player.
"I enjoy playing with Vince," said Autio. "I think we have good chemistry and we both are offensively minded, so it works."
Autio and Pedrie have also taken advantage of learning from the older members of the team, especially fellow defensemen.
"I look up to Luke [Juha] and Connor [Varley] and the older guys like [Mike Williamson and David Thompson]," said Pedrie. "They're just great guys to look up to and see how hard they work off the ice. I think just the culture of our locker room it's not just the upperclassmen, but everyone really, they push everyone on and off the ice to be the best."
Looking forward to the upcoming series, when No. 16 St. Lawrence visits Pegula Ice Arena, the young defensive pairing will once again be tested. Pedrie explained the pair has changes they would like to make during this weekend's games.
"I'd say our own zone is something we could work on," said Pedrie. "We could clean up our play in our own zone, and limit our shots against when we're on the ice and try to put up a couple points each would be nice."
Autio and Pedrie know their successes so far stem from their abilities to communicate and work as a pair, and these games will be no different. When they don the Blue and White this week the two will be looking to defend their net and further define their roles as playmakers.
"It's fun playing with Erik," said Pedrie. "We seem to kind of find each other all over the ice and read off each other really well, it's kind of like we've been playing together for 10 years almost, it's been great."