Dec. 7, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Thanks to tremendous performances from its goaltenders and outstanding effort from the offense, the Penn State men's hockey team (10-2-3, 2-0-0-0 Big Ten) marched past Michigan State (4-8-2, 0-2-0-0 Big Ten) over the weekend at Pegula Ice Arena.
With head coach Guy Gadowsky's plan to continually rotate between junior goaltender Eamon McAdam and senior goaltender Matt Skoff working to the Nittany Lions' advantage, Gadowsky has left the system in place, yielding tremendous results.
Skoff, who started in net Friday night, recorded 31 saves on the way to a 4-2 win for the Nittany Lions. McAdam, taking up residence between the pipes Saturday afternoon, recorded 28 saves in Penn State's 6-1 victory.
"…Matthew Skoff with a huge save in the second period," said Gadowsky of Skoff's Friday night performance. "It's too bad, with a save like that I think he deserved better in the outcome. I feel bad that we couldn't have played better for him in the third."
On Friday night, Penn State got the first goal of the night, just 10 seconds into the second period, thanks to freshman forward Andrew Sturtz. The goal was the fastest to start a period by a Penn State player, overtaking Casey Bailey's 13-second goal to start a period in 2013.
Sturtz scored a second time Friday night, a backhand-forehand play with 4:52 remaining in the second period. Penn State peppered the net with shots, leaving the second period of play with four goals. Junior forward David Goodwin and freshman defenseman Vince Pedrie also found the back of the net.
"He's got such a big heart and he's so fun to watch," said Gadowsky about Sturtz. "There's just different guys you watch, like Eric Scheid and his speed or David Glen and his grit, and the way that David Goodwin sees the ice, you watch [Sturtz] and you see a big heart skating around. He's so fun to watch and I love watching the guy."
Saturday's performance was another offensive display for the Nittany Lions. Senior forward Eric Scheid scored twice for Penn State in the first period, both goals only coming a minute apart.
"I think it's obviously huge, we knew [the Spartans] were going to come out hard, set the tone early, and to score two goals early like that, that's a huge weight off our back to get the early lead," said Scheid.
Scheid talked about what worked well for him and his line mates, Dylan Richard and David Goodwin.
"I think it's just that we all play pretty similar," said Scheid. "I think that we've been a lot better down the line getting offensive zone time, any time you can get the puck in the O-zone and work it around a little bit it gives you confidence and it leads into other chances coming off the rush and stuff like that."
Communication was on point for the offense Saturday afternoon, as the team looked comfortable taking on Michigan State senior goaltender and 2014-15 Big Ten Player and Goaltender of the Year, Jake Hildebrand. Hildebrand's few mental mistakes over the weekend allowed some shots on net that resulted in goals for the Nittany Lions.
Getting a sweep to start Big Ten play is a huge boost for the Nittany Lions. This weekend's momentum will build the groundwork for the rest of Penn State's conference play this season, which resumes in January. The Nittany Lions host Princeton on Friday.