Off to a 4-0 start for the first time in team history, the No. 10 Nittany Lions have received excellent play from each position group. Penn State has benefited from balanced scoring and stable play on the blue line thus far. Not to mention, it's a luxury for any hockey team to have one goalie consistently shutting down his competition.
The Nittany Lions have two.
With Chris Funkey (Orland Park, Ill.), the Nittany Lions have a senior and a leader they can rely on, considered by many of his teammates to be one of the more comedic players on the team.
Junior Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) has been a reliable stalwart in net for two seasons and looks to be on a similar pace this season.
The two have each played a pair of games in the 2018-19 season so far for Penn State, combining to allow only seven goals in 240 minutes of play. Head coach Guy Gadowsky spoke this week about his reliable platoon in net.
"We promised at the start of the year that we would do that," Gadowsky said. "I think they both deserve opportunities to play and they're both such great teammates and great guys. I'm not sure how long it will go, but that's what we promised them, so that's what we're doing."
While Gadowsky has named Jones as the starter for Friday's game against Princeton, he mentioned that both goaltenders would start if there were two games this coming weekend. He also sees value in the internal competition that is created with his team.
"I think there's some benefit to it, in the fact that when you have good people, internal competition is a great thing and they're both each other's biggest fans," Gadowsky said.
"They really like each other as people and they genuinely want each other to succeed. I think that's partially why it works so well. We have faith in both of them. Neither of them has lost, and they're both playing very well."
Both goaltenders agree with their coach, and Funkey emphasized how enjoyable it has been to be in tandem for such a successful start to the season.
"I think it's been awesome," Funkey said. "I'm really proud of the way both of us have played so far this season, and I'm really proud of our team's effort obviously starting off 4-0.
"We're both happy we're getting the chance to contribute and help the team out in any way that we can. Being able to push each other is really helping both of us.
"You would think that hockey gets in the way but it really doesn't," Funkey continued. "We're both very professional both on and off the ice and Peyton has honestly become one of my closest friends on the team."
"We're competitive people," Jones said. "Everyone on this team is competitive but we're all good friends and we get along great. On the ice, it's like I want to beat him and vice versa. I think that's how things are.
On the ice before each game, both Jones and Funkey share a moment together, regardless of which player is starting in net for the Nittany Lions.
"It's kind of a handshake we have," Jones said. "He'll always say 'Good luck buddy, have fun out there', and we're there for each other even though we compete. He's a really good friend of mine and no matter who is in net, we want to win and we support the other guy."
While Funkey wouldn't speak about their pregame ritual, he did agree with Jones' notion of how well the goaltenders get along.
"I really think we have a mutual respect," Funkey said. "In practice on the ice, we want to beat each other in everything we do. That's our competitive nature that each of us have, but on the bench regardless of who is in net, we support each other.
"When Peyton made the back-door save on Friday night, I think I just about jumped over the boards. It has made for an awesome experience for the two of us and it helps in games knowing that whoever is on the bench has your back."
Funkey has a reputation that precedes itself as one of the funnier members of the team. When asked about that this week, Jones agreed with a smile.
"You could say that," Jones said. "I feel like sometimes I might spend too much time with him."
While Jones will get the start against Princeton this weekend, Funkey will always be ready to go. Whether they are helping the team get ready for a big game, or simply making teammates and coaches laugh, both goaltenders are ready for action whenever called upon.
