Nov. 30, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ââ'¬" Behind a powerful performance by the special teams, the Penn State men's hockey team (8-2-3) returned to Hockey Valley victorious, after shutting out Vermont (3-2-9), 4-0, in the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff on Sunday.
"We really believe in what we do as a team, with the structure, so it doesn't matter who we're playing, we want to play the same game and put up the same effort," said junior forward Dylan Richard.
Richard had two goals in Sunday's contest, his first coming on the power play.
"I think [the power play is] doing a great job at creating chances, shooting the puck and really just creating a little bit of chaos in front of the net," said Richard.
Junior Zach Saar also got on the board for the Nittany Lions on Sunday thanks to a strong shot off the faceoff during another Nittany Lions power play. Both Richard and Saar scored in Penn State's last shutout win, a Feb. 8, 2014 game against Michigan.
Head coach Guy Gadowsky has said previously the power play is an area he wants to focus on improving, and making it a stable factor of Penn State's offense.
The most outstanding performance of Sunday's game, however, came from the young man in net for the Nittany Lions, junior Eamon McAdam. The Perkasie, Pa., native had 30 saves against the Catamounts on his was to his first shut out as a Nittany Lion.
"I think it was a game where we came out hot and were able to control the play in the first period," said McAdam. "[Vermont] had a few chances, but nothing crazy."
Several scrambles in front of Penn State's net could have yielded goals, if McAdam wasn't a dominating presence in the crease.
"The second period we hit kind of a wall so I stepped up and made saves and kind of kept it 1-0 for a while." said McAdam. "Toward the end of the game it turned into a team effort, with guys blocking shots and back checking. I played a really good game but it's all about a great team effort."
Playing in his hometown NHL arena was a highlight of the season so far for McAdam, who had an abundance of family members in attendance for Sunday's game.
"I grew up watching Flyers games pretty much every night. It's making one of my dreams come true [to play in Wells-Fargo Center]," said McAdam.
McAdam had previously started for the Nittany Lions in net the last time the team visited Wells-Fargo Center, during the 2013 Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff.
McAdam said the atmosphere of Wells-Fargo Center provided the perfect backdrop for Penn State's win Sunday afternoon.
"To play in front of 9,000 people, that's a pretty cool experience and it's easy to get pretty pumped up for a game like this," said McAdam.