UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- When they stepped off the ice in South Bend, Indiana, following a crushing overtime loss to Wisconsin, both Clayton Phillips and Adam Pilewicz felt unsatisfied.
That loss to the Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament concluded an extremely unprecedented season for Penn State. One that left a lot to be desired. After a red-hot month of January, a program-wise pause cost the team the entirety of February.
For both Phillips and Pilewicz, they feel like they have unfinished business to take care of. That's why both of them recently decided to return to Penn State for a fifth, and final, collegiate season.
"I made the decision after the season ended," Phillips said. "I talked with the coaches, my parents and Pittsburgh. I love this place and feel like we have some unfinished business."
Pilewicz made the decision around Christmas that he would be returning to Penn State. He still has one more semester left of classes before graduating, so it made too much sense for him not to utilize his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA.
But it was more than just that, in which prompted Pilewicz's decision to return for a fifth season.
"The end of the year left a sour taste in our mouth," Pilewicz said. "We felt like we could have done more this year with the team we had."
It will be Pilewicz's fifth year wearing the Blue and White. He's played sparingly over his time at Penn State, but the Sewickley, Pennsylvania, native's impact goes beyond the ice.
While he is looking forward to playing another season for the Nittany Lions, Pilewicz is looking to make a greater impact for his younger teammates and the program.
"The biggest thing for me has always been to leave the program in a better spot than when I arrived Pilewicz said.
For Phillips, it will be his third year playing for the Nittany Lions. He joined the program prior to the start of the 2019-20 season after spending two years at Minnesota. It's a decision Phillips is incredibly thankful he made.
The decision to return was a tough one for Phillips. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins and consulted with them prior to making his eventual decision.
"I think it would be unbelievable to get one more year of development before hopefully going to the next level," Phillips said.
Both Phillips and Pilewicz echo the sentiment shared by the rest of the team. That is, they feel like there is a lot more the group can accomplish, especially after how the team played last season.
"I feel like we were finding our stride," Pilewicz said. "We were winning some big games and against really good teams. Then, COVID struck our team and unfortunately we got shut down."
Moving forward, Pilewicz, Phillips and the rest of the upperclassmen have big shoes to fill. Alex Limoges, Aarne Talvitie and Tim Doherty are all off to the professional ranks. The loss of those three will certainly leave a hole in this Penn State group, but it is one the Nittany Lions are confident they can fill.
Phillips and Pilewicz are excited to see their teammates take the next step in the coming year. Connor McMenamin, Connor MacEachern and Kevin Wall are three they are both excited to see take a big step forward.
"Those are some really good players that we have to replace, but I think we have some good pieces in place here," Phillips said.
The one thing that separated this Penn State team from teams of the past was its youth. While, the Nittany Lions suffered through many growing pains this season, Pilewicz is confident in what they can do.
"We're losing some key pieces, but the biggest thing is bringing the freshmen and the sophomores along," Pilewicz said. "I think we have two classes who can take a giant step next season."
Above all else, Pilewicz and Phillips are going to be tasked with leading a group that is unsatisfied. Penn State is going to enter next season with a chip on its shoulder and a lot of momentum from this past season.
Pilewicz is going to continue to do whatever the coaches ask of him and be a leader both on and off the ice. Phillips shares the same sentiment and they both want to be remembered as guys who always put the team first.
"I want to be remembered as a team guy," Phillips said. "The stuff you do on the ice speaks for itself but being remembered as a good teammate is how I want to be remembered."
