Nov. 15, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Nittany Lion men's hockey team, led by outstanding performance from the goaltenders and special teams, notched a sweep against Sacred Heart this weekend.
Penn State (6-2-2) opened up the series against Sacred Heart (5-5-1) with a dominating 8-2 victory on Friday and didn't look back.
Head coach Guy Gadowsky credited Eamon McAdam's performance in net on Friday with keeping the game in Penn State's favor. Eamon made 36 saves, with 22 of them in the second period, setting a school record.
"Eamon McAdam had to be just phenomenal," said Gadowsky of all the shots Sacred Heart took on McAdam. "…That's got to be the hardest six-goal victory he's ever played in."
Additionally, Penn State's 5-for-7 performance on the power play added precious momentum to the Nittany Lions' victory. The return of Zach Saar after numerous injuries made an immediate impact on Penn State's power play. Saar found the back of the net, on the man-advantage, with a goal of his own during Friday's game.
"It was definitely nice to see [the power play's success] and it was also nice to see Zach Saar add a new element to our power play unit, big time," said Gadowsky. "I thought Saar played a very big role and really great to see him get a goal after all of the injuries he has had."
On Saturday night, the Nittany Lions kept peppering the net with shots, tallying a new school record of 67 shots on goal.
Freshman Chase Berger had a phenomenal game as the birthday boy celebrated by scoring two goals to keep the Nittany Lions in chase of another win.
"It was awesome, my parents are in town and my whole family, and it was just great that we won," said Berger.
Berger had previously stated he hopes that his performance remains consistent and that he can use his personal successes to help the team in any way he can to get them a win. Though Berger doesn't want to think too far ahead, he enjoys performances like Saturday's.
"…Every day I try to come and just shoot a lot of pucks and just work on that stuff and then if it comes it comes and I know sometimes you play really well and the puck's not going your way, maybe it's going my way now," said Berger, who regained his position atop this season's NCAA freshman goal scoring list.
On Saturday, Matthew Skoff received the nod to start in net. Gadowsky is still using non-conference games to test both goaltenders, by giving each of them equal time to stake their claim for the starting job. Gadowsky is confident in all his goaltenders, and takes any opportunity to say so.
"Just every game I just try to keep it the same and believe in myself and just try to make that next save and give my team, whenever I'm playing, give my team the best chance to win," said Skoff.
Combining a veteran lineup with the addition of successful freshmen, the Nittany Lions have been a force to be reckoned with so far this season.
Senior Tommy Olczyk summed up the team dynamics, even with eight freshmen on board.
"As a team I think we are very mature but it's just we need to change our mind set a little here and pay more attention to detail," said Olczyk.
The Nittany Lions will head to Alaska this week to face Alaska Anchorage, a trip that will not only test the team's skills on the ice, but also their mental toughness on the cross-country journey.