It may not have been known at the time, but Penn State's senior forward Nate Sucese passed David Goodwin to eclipse the program's all-time points mark in last Saturday's 6-2 win at Robert Morris. In an anti-climactic turn of events, a scoring change postgame awarded Sucese his third assist of the night for his 129th career point.
Sucese says he knew right away that he recorded the assist on the play, a goal scored by sophomore forward Max Sauvé. It just took until a little while later, for Sucese to get the recognition.
"When they made the change afterwards, I knew it was going to happen," Sucese said. "Until the tweet was sent out, no one really knew that I was the leader."
Looking back on Sucese's career, head coach Guy Gadowsky does not pinpoint just one moment that the senior stood out, but rather his overall attitude and how he approaches every game. Sucese's mental toughness has contributed to his ability to produce in every game, which is an admirable trait to Gadowsky. All of which has culminated in another milestone for Sucese.
"To have 129 points after three-and-a-half years is an amazing accomplishment," Gadowsky said. "He has excellent physical skills, specifically speed, but it's the mental attitude."
Sucese has been a consistent presence on the score sheet all four of his seasons at Penn State. He has contributed every season and has had very similar point totals at the end of each year.
"It's not like he caught fire, he's been doing this since day one," Gadowsky said. "The mental strength it takes to do that day in, and day out is really impressive."
When reflecting back on this most recent milestone, Sucese is proud of his accomplishment. He is sure to thank his "consistent" line mates and says that without them, none of it would have been possible.
Aside from his line mates, Sucese also looks back on the players he looked up to as a younger player to model his game after as he tried to establish himself at Penn State.
"When I was a freshman, Andrew Sturtz was my mentor," Sucese said. "Ricky DeRosa was a huge part of my success by taking me under his wing and trying to show me how it's really done."
Goodwin was a senior at Penn State when Sucese was a freshman. Little did many know that the then-freshman would become the eventual program leader in points. After Saturday's game, Goodwin reached out via Instagram to congratulate Sucese.
Sucese has accomplished almost all he could individually, but he continues to have the team's overall goals in mind.
"I don't think there are that many individual goals left," Sucese said. "The main focus here is getting that first spot in the playoffs and having that bye."
Following the conclusion of this season, Sucese will hold plenty of records on the Penn State stat sheet. But it's what he has done both on and off the ice and the example he has set for his younger teammates that will stand out the most.
"I hope I set a path for guys coming up to not only strive for excellence on the ice but be the best teammate possible off the ice," Sucese said. "As well as be a good representation for the university in the classroom."
