Blue White Illustrated

���He motivates himself by challenging other people,��� Gadowsky said. ���He likes to get people pissed at him. He���ll try to get under other people���s skin.��� Skoff resembles Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins. ���I like to play quick butterfly goalie,��� he said. ���I won���t say no to a puck, and I will throw a limb out at any time to try to get a piece of the puck.��� The two goalies might have different styles, but they both care about healthy competition and seeing the team succeed. Musico and Skoff said they are friends off the ice, but that doesn���t mean they aren���t competitive. ���Without a doubt, I���m sure him and me hate each other sometimes,��� Musico said. ���But overall it is healthy competition, and that is what makes you better in the end.��� The two goalies have both had big moments this season. Musico relishes his first Division I victory against American International on Oct. 13, as well as his shutout win over Army on Oct. 26. And even though he didn���t see a minute of action, he was thrilled with Penn State���s sweep of Alabama Huntsville, in which it claimed the ���Independent League Megabowl.��� Skoff���s big moments occured in Pennsylvania���s two NHL arenas. In January, he was able to play in front of more than 19,000 fans in a victory over Vermont at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. He also played before 10,000 fans in a win over Ohio State at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh in December. ���I have been lucky enough to get in big games where I had an opportunity to play,��� Skoff said. ���Lucky for me, we came out on top.��� Gadowsky was never a goalie during his playing career, so he doesn���t care so much about differing styles. What he cares about are wins, losses, save percentages, goals-against averages and work ethic. And he thinks both of his goalies excel in those areas. ���I don���t think splitting time is a negative,��� Gadowsky said. ���I know the team has faith in both guys and I know the team really likes playing in front of both guys. For me, splitting time is a non-issue.��� NOTEBOOK MEN���S TRACK & FIELD Creese sets record with effort in mile Sophomore Robby Creese ran the mile in a school-record 3 minutes, 57.11 seconds Feb. 9 at the Husky Classic at the University of Washington. Creese turned in the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season, finishing as the top collegian in a loaded men���s mile field. His personal-best performance bettered Ryan Foster���s 3:58.49 from the 2010 campaign, and was his third career trip under the 4:00 barrier. MEN���S VOLLEYBALL Penn State swept by visiting Buckeyes Seventh-ranked Penn State suffered a 3-0 (22-25, 20-25, 24-26) setback to No. 9 Ohio State Feb. 9 at Rec Hall. More than 3,200 fans were on hand to watch the match. ���I thought tonight���s match had the feel of a national semifinal,��� coach Mark Pavlik said after watching his team slip to 9-2. ���For the most part, in the tough parts in the games, Ohio State out-competed us. We had leads late in each game and couldn���t finish.��� MEN���S LACROSSE Lions top Michigan in season opener Led by four-goal performances from T.J. Sanders and Shane Sturgis, 15th-ranked Penn State opened its season with an 11-6 victory against host Michigan. Sanders had a five-point afternoon in his collegiate debut, while goaltender Austin Kaut made 12 saves for the Nittany Lions. PRATO CONTINUED FROM 45 bama fan I first met in the Washington bureau of ABC News in 1998. John Cochran is retired now, but he was a correspondent for NBC and ABC for decades. His wife, Barbara, had just become the president of the Radio Television News Directors Association, and I was the longtime volunteer treasurer. I was in Washington one evening in early February that year to have dinner with Barbara, and John was joining us. Barbara and I went to the ABC bureau across the street from the Mayflower Hotel, and the newsroom was bustling, as it always is prior to the network���s evening newscast. John was in his cubicle intently peering at his computer screen when we walked over. I thought he might be working on a last-minute news story or that perhaps there was a breaking news story somewhere around the world that he was reading. John looked up, gave us a slight wave and said, ���You have to give me a couple of minutes. I���m checking on our Alabama signees, and we just picked up a recruit we didn���t expect.��� Barbara, who was not a football fan before she married John, said simply, ���That���s John.��� Since then, John and I have become friends, and whenever we talk we start out with AlabamaPenn State football. John and Barbara were part of the official Alabama party on game day at the national championship game in Miami this year, and we hosted the Cochrans for the Alabama game at Beaver Stadium in 2011. John has been very supportive of Penn State since the Sandusky scandal broke and we keep in touch by email. In fact, two days before this year���s national signing day, John sent me an email at 4:06 p.m. with the subject line ���Hackenberg was on ESPN minutes ago.��� The message simply said ���replaying on ESPNU.��� Now, there is a true recruitnik.

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