Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83706
NCAA Division III opponents, while playing eight exhibition contests. Two of Penn State's most high-profile opponents are Michigan State (Jan. 25 and 26 in East Lansing) and Wisconsin (Feb. 24 and 25 in Madison). They are the only two future Big Ten teams Penn State faces in 2012-13, unless it meets Ohio State in the Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational in late December. "[Michigan State and Wisconsin] are the guys we're playing every year," Gadowsky said. "It's really hard not to have that pop out at you. We really look forward to that [to] see how it goes. Union [Nov. 24 and 25 in Sch- enectady, N.Y.] is also a program that went to the Frozen Four last year. We coached against them at Princeton, so we know the program and have great respect for the coaching staff and what they've done and how the team plays. So that is going to be a tremendously hard test for us, too." To prepare for the difficult schedule, Gadowsky scoured the country and parts of Canada to find larger players to fill his roster. "We're not just getting big bodies for the sake of having big bodies," he said. "I think you're going to see on the back end we want to get a little harder to play against. That's where Mark Yannis comes into play. … He's 6-foot-3, 215, 220 [pounds]. He really has a presence, and he looks a lot more intimidating and a lot bigger than he even is." Another prominent addition to Penn State's roster last year was Max Gar- diner, a 6-3, 190-pound sophomore forward. Gardiner appeared in 17 games with Minnesota, a premier college hock- ey program, as a true freshman and then was drafted in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues. He transferred to Penn State because he said Gadowsky was "real passionate. I love that about him." "Once you get drafted, that doesn't mean you're signed," said Gardiner with a touch of his Minnesotan accent. "For hockey, it is usually three, four years down the road when you end up actually signing a contract. That's the ultimate goal for me, but I have a lot of work to do here first. That's my focus. Penn State is my focus right now." Women's team set to debut vs. Vermont Josh Brandwene, the first-year head coach of Penn State's women's ice hockey team, understands the chal- lenge the 2012-13 season presents. As is the case with its male counter- parts, the first-year Division I squad is expected to endure some strug- gles. When Penn State begins its season Oct. 6 at Vermont, more than half of its roster will be comprised of fresh- men, although they were some of the top recruits in the country a year ago. To offset the youthfulness of the team, Brandwene said his captain, Taylor Gross, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colo., has taken it upon herself to help the freshmen adjust to the college game. Gross played for Connecticut her freshman season and was the Huskies' rookie of the year after leading the team with 23 points on a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. She played the first half of the 2011-12 season for UConn before transferring to Penn State to finish off the season with the club team. From that one semester of play, Brandwene said he can tell Gross has the tools to become one of the ththeFajitta Fa a Platter Pl ttte er www.nittanylioninn.psu.edu w 814-865-8580 CAPTAIN TAYLOR Gross, a junior, is the captain of an otherwise young team. Tim Owen nation's best forwards. Her leadership is going to help, too. "I love [the freshmen's] enthusiasm and the energy that they have," Brandwene said at Penn State's jersey unveiling Sept. 12. "They've become a cohesive group pretty quickly. I give credit to the freshmen. From their perspective, they all wanted to be part of this. The other big piece of it is Taylor Gross. What a phenomenal captain. Her leadership is really neat to see, and it's really accelerating what we're trying to do." –T.O.