Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/590325
T
he questions going into the season
were mostly focused on o;ense,
and that was understandable.
Penn State may have boasted the Big
Ten's top returning scorer in junior for-
ward David Goodwin, but it had gradu-
ated Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom.
It had dismissed Scott Conway over the
summer for violating team rules, and it
had lost Eric Scheid for the start of the
season due to a lower-body injury. So
as Penn State began preseason practice,
it was without four of last
season's top 9ve scorers.
"We lost a couple of big
players," acknowledged
David Glen, a senior forward
and one of three team cap-
tains. "But that's the nature
of college hockey. You could
say the same about a lot of
teams, especially in the Big
Ten. It's going to be scoring by com-
mittee. It's going to be hard work. Hope-
fully we'll get increased o;ense from
the back end and up front. It's all about
getting pucks to the net and going to
the net hard."
So far, the Lions have done just that.
They got their season under way with a
6-1 victory at Canisius on Oct. 10 and
followed it up by splitting a pair of games
against Notre Dame at Pegula Ice Arena,
dropping the opener, 7-4, on Oct. 16
but taking the 9nale, 5-3, the next day.
In their victory over Notre Dame, the
Nittany Lions used exactly the sort of
team-oriented approach that Glen had
indicated would be necessary for the
team to thrive this season. Penn State
bounced back from a 2-1 second-period
de9cit thanks to goals from
9ve players: David Thomp-
son, Chase Berger, Alec
Marsh, Ricky DeRosa and
Curtis Loik.
"I think the crowd played
a big part," coach Guy Gadowsky said
of the 6,150 fans on hand. "I think we
rolled o; three in a row, and sort of got
that snowball rolling with the crowd
into it, and that makes it fun. That cer-
tainly adds to the momentum. It's nice
to be on that side of it."
In a preseason poll of Big Ten coaches,
Penn State was picked to 9nish fourth,
behind Michigan, Minnesota and Michi-
gan State. The Nittany Lions are now in
their fourth season as a varsity program,
and they are looking to build on their
strong performance from a year ago,
when they 9nished with a winning record
for the 9rst time. Said Glen, "What we
talk about is setting the foundation for
what we believe Penn State hockey
should always be about."
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newcomers is at the opposite end of the
eligibility spectrum. Brianna Banks, a 5-
foot-9 guard, was part of two national
championships at Connecticut before
leaving for Penn State, where she sat out
last season in accordance with NCAA
transfer rules. Banks will have only one
season of eligibility with the Lady Lions,
but she has helped set a competitive tone
in practice.
"I've really enjoyed having Bri in the
gym. She's a tremendous, tremendous
competitor," Washington said. "She plays
and practices with a 9re and an intensity
that certainly spreads to her teammates.
And she's got a lot of tools on the o;ensive
end. She can shoot it. She can get to the
basket and 9nish. She's creative and a
very good passer, but she also plays the
defensive end of the :oor with fervor. So
she's a player who is going to impact the
game on both ends of the :oor."
Although they lost only one senior to
graduation – center Tori Waldner – the
Lady Lions did have several additional
o;-season departures. Forward Alex Har-
ris transferred to Dayton in May a