Oct. 5, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's hockey team started its season off with a bang on Sunday afternoon in exhibition action with a 5-2 win over international opponent Windsor.
After falling behind 2-0, senior Curtis Loik set the tone for the Lions' scoring agenda striking first for the Nittany Lions. However, it would be junior David Goodwin who would take the lead in front of the Lancers' net.
Goodwin, playing on a new line after the departure of Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom, has had to quickly find his groove with new line mates. In the exhibition Sunday, Goodwin played alongside senior captain David Glen and freshman Alec Marsh.
"We've been practicing kind of all week [as a line] and I think for the first game it felt pretty good," said Glen. "I thought we had a lot of chances and worked the puck down low pretty well."
Head coach Guy Gadowsky has looked to his upperclassmen to replace departed talent and fill holes in the depth chart. As for their performance Sunday, Gadowsky was pleased with his starting line of forwards.
Gadowsky was confident in pairing Glen alongside Goodwin because of Glen's history of consistency and willingness to get the puck to the net.
"[Glen] showed that he can generate points; he can generate chances and he can get people the puck," said Gadowsky. "I think that's what David [Goodwin] needs."
Goodwin scored two points on a goal and an assist during the 60 minutes of play against the Lancers. Glen added to the top line's performance by notching two goals of his own, as well as an assist
The top line performed well in the exhibition game, something Gadowsky hopes to continue into the season.
As for Goodwin's individual performance, he knows there is pressure on him to score, but that pressure is something he will use to build off of for the regular season.
"There's obviously a little bit of pressure on me but I'm totally fine with that," said Goodwin. "I feel confident going into the year."
Another aspect of Sunday's exhibition game that went well for the Nittany Lions was the freshman class' overall performance.
Freshman Vince Pedrie stood out not only as a defenseman, but as a player who when given the puck will make plays and get the puck in the hands of someone who can take it to the net. Pedrie finished the game with two assists.
"He really shoots the puck and I think his assists came off of that, for shooting the puck and so we expected that he would be a guy, it's no secret that we like to shoot the puck, we led the nation in shots last year, and he fits that mold extremely well," said Gadowsky.
Another freshman defender who made his presence noticed was Kevin Kerr. Kerr embodied the mindset Gadowsky wanted his defensemen to be in when it comes to keeping the puck out of Penn State's zone.
"If you look at the way Kevin Kerr thinks the game like you can just see how he generates so much possession and offensive chances just by the way he thinks and moves the puck and that's something by design and something we're been after," said Gadowsky.
While the Nittany Lions are less than a week away from the regular season Gadowsky is positive about how his team has performed so far.
"We didn't have an exhibition game last year, I thought it showed in our first NCAA game," said Gadowsky. "It's great to get a little experience like a dress rehearsal out of the way."