Throughout the Happy Valley community, the highly-acclaimed student section for Penn State hockey, the "Roar Zone", has earned their accolades by bringing the Penn State pride and generating momentum behind the Blue and White each Friday and Saturday inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The passion-filled fan base is a Penn State tradition that is entirely student-run, composed of an executive board and over 1,000 members that flood Pegula for each home series. Praised for their tumultuous cheering and blazing passion, they have been labeled as "the best student section in college hockey," and are the prerequisite for the Nittany Lions' home-ice success.
"There's places we go where we feel it against us, so we know how much it not only means to us, but how much it means in a negative way to the opposition," exclaimed men's hockey head coach, Guy Gadowsky.
The Roar Zone takes collective initiative to create individualized posters that surround the lining of the boards in front of Penn State's student section. This section has been strategically placed directly behind the goal that the Blue and White attack twice a game, triggering the mental warfare between Nittany Lion fans and visiting goaltenders.
One of the newest additions to the Roar Zone, freshman Lilyana "Lily" Willis, has fully adopted the passion and devotion of her peers, making creative new posters for each home series.
As a freshman at Penn State, she came into Happy Valley eager to get involved in as many ways as possible. Stumbling upon their booth at the fall semester involvement fair, Lily found a new home with the Roar Zone, enthralled to be a part of something fueled by such passion and dedication.
Hosting their annual poster making party at Pegula to kick off the season, the Roar Zone made a set of signs with silly slogans relating to players names or positions that line the glass prior to each home game. Inspired by the passion of her Roar Zone family, Lily became encouraged to add her own twist on this Hockey Valley tradition.
Flash forward to the start of the season, fans within the Roar Zone flood Pegula for every contest with their vibrant posters in hand as a sign of alliance and support of the Penn State troops. Sitting in the same spot in the lower section's upper left-hand side of the Roar Zone, fans were quick to notice Lily Willis, who showed up to each series with a new poster, each strategically planned with a clever line and accompanying drawing.
"I decided that I was going to put my artistic talents to use and make something that I enjoy, and hopefully other people enjoy as well… It makes me so happy going in for the early lineup and everyone in the Roar Zone is so excited to see my poster for the weekend, and it's so special to be able to show it off and see everyone love it," exclaimed Willis.
Since she was able to hold a pen, Lily has always had a passion and talent for drawing, one that was only enhanced as the pandemic granted individuals with so much more time to pursue hobbies outside of their personal obligations. Growing up with parents that have extreme success in their own creative outlets, she was always offered the proper support and resources to turn her talents into a passion.
Pursuing a degree in landscape architecture, Willis has utilized her creative tendencies to translate into a degree that allows her to incorporate her talents into a career path, at a university where she can combine her passion for art with her love for the sport.
Emphasizing the fanbases' passion for not only supporting Penn State, but using their strength in numbers and decibels to intimidate the opponents, Lily brainstorms clever phrases that are a play-on-words of each teams' slogans or mascots, as a fun way to chirp the visiting team with her signs.
For the first home series of the season, Lily debuted a "Sting a Little?" poster as a parody of the visiting American International College Yellowjackets, rewarded by a 3-2 Nittany Lions victory for her first-ever Penn State hockey game.
"That first night was absolutely surreal… Pegula definitely brings out the maniacs in the best way, like if you don't lose your voice, it's not a Penn State hockey game."
In a year of firsts for the freshman, Willis praises Penn State's students for their die-hard fandom amongst all sports, but feels as though the Roar Zone is in a league of its own.
"With football, everybody goes because it's a Penn State tradition… But when you're at a hockey game in Pegula, everybody sincerely wants to be there out of the love for the game. Whether they come from a hockey background, or they have learned to love it because of Penn State, it's overall such a niche thing that is so communally embraced," says Willis.
Following the excitement of that first home stretch with three consecutive series' at Pegula, Lily has made all the posters for the remainder of the season, but keeps them hidden under her dorm bed until entering Pegula for their Friday night debut. Willis has excitedly noted that some of her best designs have yet to be seen.
Heading into a rematch of their series split with the University of Michigan from earlier in the season, the Nittany Lions and the Hockey Valley community eagerly await the Wolverines as they cross into enemy territory this Friday and Saturday, February 16th and 17th.
"I've loved all my signs so far, and they've definitely gotten better as the year has gone on… I don't show anybody beforehand because it's more fun when I get to unveil it the day of, but I will say that Michigan's is done and that's my absolute favorite of them all."
No stranger to passionate fan bases, Lily was born and raised in the steel city, growing up in the prime of the Pittsburgh Penguins dynasty where they were one of only three teams to win three Stanley Cup's since the turn of the century, and join the Tampa Bay Lightning as the only two teams to win in back-to-back seasons.
From playing knee hockey with her older brother for hours on end, to watching countless Penguins games with her father, Lily has always had an ongoing love and passion for the sport.
At the age of eleven, Lily had the unique opportunity to attend a game six watch party at PPG Paints arena, where the Penguins inevitably won the 2016 Stanley Cup in an epic 3-1 victory over San Jose on the road. Looking back, Lily pinpointed this as the time that took her hockey fandom to new heights, now translating that same love and passion towards a new team, the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Since stumbling upon the Roar Zone table at the involvement fair, Lily has found herself entirely immersed in the Hockey Valley culture, accumulating ten new posters, fourteen home games, countless hours spent eagerly waiting outside Pegula for early lineups, and 1,000 new friends.
When asked what she would sacrifice for Penn State hockey's first ever national title, Willis said she would sacrifice her "hotel room" style dorm with a renovated bathroom, high ceilings and air conditioning. For those at Penn State, that sacrifice speaks volumes to her passion and commitment to the program and the Roar Zone.
As the season comes to a close, the Nittany Lions have two more home series', which means only two more posters from Willis as she rounds up her first season with the Roar Zone.
The Blue and White welcome the University of Michigan to Pegula for a 7 p.m. puck drop Friday night at Pegula to kick off the busy weekend in Happy Valley.
