Jan. 17, 2016
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" For the third-straight series, the No. 15 Penn State men's hockey team (15-4-3, 5-1-0-0 Big Ten) swept the Wisconsin Badgers (4-10-6, 1-5-2-1 Big Ten). On Friday night, the Nittany Lions won in a dramatic 4-3 overtime win, while Saturday's game ended 4-1 in favor of the Blue and White.
Senior forward Eric Scheid made his mark during the third period of Saturday's game, notching two goals against his father's former team.
Scheid's father, Jim, played varsity hockey at Wisconsin between 1977 and 1981.
"It's pretty awesome," said Scheid of his two-goal game. "I think any time you score a goal it's going to be great but obviously it's a little special place in my heart for Wisconsin with my parents both going there. It was nice to have my mom here to be able to see it and overall it was a great weekend for us."
Scheid found the back of the net twice during Saturday's contest, while also picking up an assist on senior forward Curtis Loik's first period goal.
Freshman forward Andrew Sturtz also had a hard-hitting weekend. Known for putting his whole heart out on the ice, Sturtz scored two goals over the weekend, one during Friday's contest and another during Saturday's matchup.
Sturtz's goal on Saturday was the game-winner.
"[David Goodwin] battled through and then I found the puck great slot and I put a little toe drag on the first defender and I just saw the opening up top, short side, and let it fly and the puck went in," said Sturtz.
On the opposite end of the ice, head coach Guy Gadowsky remained confident of both his starting goaltenders throughout the weekend. Senior Matt Skoff and junior Eamon McAdam split time over the weekend between the pipes.
Friday night's contest saw a change in the typical goaltender rotation, as senior Matt Skoff got the nod in net for the Nittany Lions. Skoff made 22 saves and improved his record to 6-2-3 this year.
On Saturday, junior Eamon McAdam (day-to-day with a lower body injury heading into the weekend) returned to the lineup and made 39 saves in front of family and friends who were in attendance.
Gadowsky made it clear that McAdam's injury was not a problem, and that the coaching staff and trainers would not have allowed him to play had he not been fully prepared physically.
Gadowsky also noted that if it isn't broken don't fix it, in regards to continuing the rotation of starting goaltenders.
Looking ahead to this weekend at Ohio State, Gadowsky stated that he would still like to work on odd-man rushes, and keeping up team momentum throughout all 60 minutes of play.
Gadowsky also spoke about his team giving up short-handed chances and what needs to be done to make corrections.
"We do know that in one of the units why, and we're going to have to sort of correct them, they've only had a week to practice so we've switched things up, sometimes when you have a lot of movement from the back and from the point that you give up on any shots and we know that. We have to practice it more and it's something we have to address for sure."
Penn State will face off against Ohio State next weekend in Columbus. This will be the Nittany Lions' first conference road trip this season.