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V A R S I T Y V I E W S 11 Icers set to join varsity squad Roster grows to 25 as PSU preps for 2012-13 season E leven players from Penn State's club hockey team in 2011-12 have been added to the Nittany Lions' roster for the 2012-13 season, head coach Guy Gadowsky announced re- cently. The 2012-13 campaign will mark Penn State's first at the varsity level since 1946-47. The 11 additions include forwards Jacob Friedman (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Michael Longo (Allison Park, Pa.), Michael McDonagh (Wilming- ton, Mass.), Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.), George Saad (Wexford, Pa.) and Eric Steinour (Carlisle, Pa.); de- fensemen Brian Dolan (Havertown, Pa.), Rich O'Brien (Furlong, Pa.) and Peter Sweetland (Newton, Pa.); and goaltenders Matt Madrazo (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) and P.J. Musico (Orange, Calif.). "All of the returning players on this roster have demonstrated a high lev- el of work ethic and commitment to their academics, our hockey program and Penn State," Gadowsky said. "We take 'Success with Honor' seriously, and these student-athletes have proven to represent themselves accord- ingly." The newcomers join Taylor Hol- strom (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.), Bryce Johnson (Grimes, Iowa) and Justin Kirchhevel (Brookings, S.D.) – four transfers with NCAA Division I expe- rience who were unveiled as the first four varsity team members in Septem- ber 2011. In 2011-12, all 15 played for Penn State's club program under Gadowsky, who served as the team's head coach during its NCAA transi- tion. With the addition of the 10 incom- ing freshmen who signed national letters of intent during the November early-signing period, the 2012-13 ros- ter currently numbers 25 players. The Nittany Lions will compete as an independent during the 2012-13 season before joining the newly cre- ated Big Ten Hockey Conference, along with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wiscon- sin, beginning in the 2013-14 sea- son. In addition, Penn State will open the Pegula Ice Arena – a 200,000-square- foot, 6,000-seat state-of-the-art facil- ity – prior to the 2013-14 season. Con- struction work on the future home of Penn State's men's and women's ice hockey programs began in early Feb- ruary. GROUNDBREAKING The ground is cleared and construction crews have been hard at work for more than a month, but on April 20 it be- comes official. On the open- ing day of Blue-White Week- end, Penn State will hold the official groundbreaking cere- mony for the Pegula Ice Are- na, the new facility for the school's Division I ice hockey programs. The ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Field Hockey Complex next door. Tim Owen 36 A P R I L 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M N O T E B O O K MEN'S GYMNASTICS Two Nittany Lions win Big Ten titles Penn State junior Scott Rosen- thal and freshman Craig Hernan- dez were crowned Big Ten cham- pions April 7 at Iowa. Rosenthal won the still rings (15.900), while Hernandez tied for first place in the pommel horse (14.850). The pair are Penn State's first conference champions since 2008, when Tommy Ramos claimed his sec- ond still rings title and Casey Sandy won the all-around and parallel bars. Rosenthal secured Penn State's seventh still rings, title, while Hernandez is the program's first pommel horse champion since Mike Dutka in 1998. As a team, Penn State finished third with a total of 350.000 points. Illinois finished with 352.950 points to claim its fourth consecutive Big Ten title and 27th overall. WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS to NCAA event Penn State picked up two re- Musser earns trip gional awards, as junior Sharaya Musser earned a bid to the NCAA championships with a third-place finish in the all- around at the regional champi- onships April 7 in Raleigh, N.C. The Nittany Lions finished fourth overall with a team score of 195.650. Head coach Jeff Thompson was named the Northeast Re- gion Coach of the Year, while Musser was awarded Northeast Region Gymnast of the Year lau- rels. Musser finished with a score of 39.450 in the all-around to se- cure her third consecutive bid to nationals. She finished in the top four on three of the four events.

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