Sept. 16, 2016
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Hailing from Fairport, New York, a suburb of Rochester, freshman forward Nate Sucese grew up immersed in the world of hockey. Born in Buffalo, Sucese has been on skates and playing hockey since he was three years old.
By spending his childhood near Rochester, Sucese had endless places to find on-ice inspiration.
Rochester is home to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League and an hour away in Buffalo, are the Sabres of the National Hockey League.
"We have several teams in western New York," Sucese said. "Hockey is huge and I'm a huge Sabres fan."
The Sabres connection in Hockey Valley is obviously strong. Terry Pegula, a Penn State graduate and his wife Kim, are the owners of the Buffalo Sabres and the Rochester Americans and donated the money to build the ice arena on campus that bears their name.
Sucese named Ryan O'Reilly as his favorite player on the Sabres, and explained that he tries to model his own playing style after the fellow forward. He admires O'Reilly's knack for making big plays, his stability on the ice, and the effort he puts towards work in the defensive zone. Another player who has had a lot of influence on Sucese's playing style is Tyler Ennis.
This season, Sucese will be wearing the No. 14 sweater, a number that has carried him through Junior hockey. The number is extremely important to Sucese, who explained he picked the number as a young player because it was the number his older brother Jonathan wore. Jonathan played four years of collegiate hockey at SUNY Geneseo, graduating in 2014.
Sucese, prior to enrolling at Penn State, played the previous two seasons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL.
During the 2014-15 season, Sucese played in 51 games with the Saints where he scored 12 goals and had 17 assists.
His final season in Dubuque, Sucese was named an alternate captain and played in 72 games, including playoffs, finding the back of the net 30 times. He led the team in regular season goals (26) and assists (33).
Describing himself as a fast player who likes to shoot the puck, Sucese is looking forward to playing for a team that emphasizes putting the puck on net with incredible volume.
Sucese is also excited for the opportunity to possibly play on the same line as fellow New York native, sophomore Andrew Sturtz.
"We play a similar style," Sucese said. "But I think he has a little more grit than I do, he's a character."
Sucese said he and Sturtz have become great friends due to their hometown backgrounds and off-ice interests. When not working out or in the classroom, Sucese said most of the time he and Sturtz are catching up on the latest shows on Netflix.
What are their favorite shows to watch?
"Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill," Sucese said. "Sturtz loves them and I know a bunch of the other guys have watched them."