Feb. 21, 2016
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Thanks to tremendous goaltending by junior Eamon McAdam on Friday, and a mid-game attempted comeback on Saturday, the No. 15 Penn State men's hockey team (19-9-4, 9-6-1-1 Big Ten) split its final home series against Ohio State (9-17-2, 4-8-2 Big Ten).
During Friday night's 6-1 takedown of the Buckeyes, McAdam made 33 saves on the way to improving his record to 11-4-1 this season.
McAdam was a stable force in net during all 60 minutes of play, making several big saves that could have otherwise brought the Buckeyes within several goals of the lead.
"I thought that was a really big part of the game," head coach Guy Gadowsky said of McAdam's performance. "It's often that timely goaltending is really important, and I really thought that we came out really well but then [Ohio State] actually took it to us and Eamon was awesome and made huge saves."
Gadowsky pointed out that often when a team puts up six goals in one game the goaltender isn't thought of as being the reason a team wins. Instead, fans usually look toward the offensive performance of the night. However, Gadowsky credited McAdam with being an integral part of the Nittany Lions' win on Friday.
Gadowsky also pointed out that due to injuries, several players had to step out of their comfort zone and play more ice time than usual, or even a different position. Gadowsky noted having freshman forward Matt Mendelson playing at center, which he's not used to, really helped the Nittany Lions be able to put four full lines out on the ice.
During Saturday's contest, Ohio State got on the board with three quick goals in the first period. However, the Nittany Lions started to mount a comeback attempt as the clock was winding down in the first period as freshman forward Chase Berger found the back of the net.
Following in the second period, the Nittany Lions tied it up thanks to goals from freshman forward Andrew Sturtz and junior forward David Goodwin.
Freshman defenseman Kevin Kerr gave the Nittany Lions the only lead of the night when he got a pass from Goodwin and went top-shelf on Ohio State's goaltender Matt Tomkins to start the third period. However, the lead was short-lived and the Buckeyes scored four unanswered goals, including an empty netter to win 7-4.
In Friday night's performance, Kerr had five shots on net and ended the night with a plus-3 rating. Gadowsky praised Kerr's performance, and noted how Kerr is often overlooked but has become an integral part of the Nittany Lions' defense.
"I think it's pretty amazing when you lose 7-4 and in our eyes the best player on the ice pretty clearly was Kevin Kerr," said Gadowsky. "Right from the very first shift, the breakout in the zone to the end, he's been great."
Lastly, Gadowsky praised the support the team has had at home this whole campaign. Notably, with THON happening across the street at the Bryce Jordan Center, to still have two sold out games and a packed Roar Zone both nights is something that Gadowsky certainly recognizes as a vital support system to have.
"That was very surprising, a phenomenal atmosphere," said Gadowsky of all the students who showed up on such a busy weekend. "The students, when you talk about the seniors and what they'll remember, the seniors they're going to remember [the Roar Zone]. They've been so motivating, and they've been a huge part of all the success we've had."