|
Penn State beats Vermont thanks to local connection; Beanpot preview |
|
|
|
|
|
The third annual Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff was won by the Penn State Nittany Lions for the second time, taking a 4-2 decision from the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon in front of a spirited and vocal crowd officially listed as 11, 674 at Wells Fargo Center.
For the erstwhile home team, the winning goal came down to a play devised by two local products, both sophomores, Ricky DeRosa and David Thompson, with the latter beating Vermont’s Mike Santaguida on a harmless-looking right-point drive with 3:09 left in regulation.
“It’s awesome because we’re roommates, too. That’s kind of a play we used to run when we were both here in the Summer, and we just practiced it all the time, getting the puck quickly, turning it in, bringing it back to Dave and going to the net. It’s definitely something we’ve been going over (in practice) but we like to shoot puck to the net and usually good things happen. It’s pretty special.” said DeRosa, who along with Thompson were coached by former Flyers defenseman Jim Watson in their youth.
David Goodwin eventually put the capper on the day with his empty net score at 18:52, and Penn State -- challenging high-scoring Michigan for the top spot in the Big 10 -- improved to 2-0-2 in their last four games when trailing after two periods.
The contest was the last non-conference tilt for the Blue and White, who finish the year with 12 straight games against familiar foes, including two more against the Wolverines on March 6-7 in the comforts of Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State also finishes a string of 11 consecutive contests without playing a true road game next weekend on home ice against Wisconsin, which will also end their eight-game, non-continuous residency in State College. Head coach Guy Gadowsky was loath to make any predictions about the future of the program, and instead chose to bask in the positive result of the moment.
“Time will tell. We certainly wanted to have a good performance. I think there’s a lot of hockey left,” Gadowsky said of his team’s season-ending push.
For the Catamounts, their mid-season slide has continued, now extended to 1-6-1. The nation’s third stingiest defense entering play (1.88 goals-per-game) gave up four goals to an opponent for the third time in the last five outings after failing to do so in each of the season’s first 21 games.
As is the case when unfamiliar non-conference opponents face each other, the first period was a virtual chess match. On one hand, PSU boasted the seventh-best offense in the land while Vermont’s defense ranked third. Though it featured 24 shots (12 to each side), there were very few quality chances, specifically on the Penn State side as Vermont’s defensive mindset didn’t permit more than one or two quality chances against an opportunistic attack.
Things picked up in the second to Vermont’s favor, with the game’s first three goals occurring in a span of just 2:07 in the late stages.
First, it was Brady Shaw who was on the receiving end of a Jake Fallon pass at the outer edge of the left circle and beat P.J. Musico at the 12:57 mark. Then, Mario Puskarich was left all alone to Musico’s right to pop home a Mike Stenerson dish at 14:50.
Before the Catamounts had a chance to catch their breath, play went the other way and Casey Bailey exploited a seam in the defense to accept a Luke Juha pass and whip home a wrister from the outer edge of the right circle only 14 seconds later.
It looked grim for the Nits at the outset of the third period, as Bailey and James Robinson committed penalties 44 seconds apart, but the Penn State penalty kill which was not on the national radar managed to kill off both ends of the one-man disadvantage as well as all 76 seconds of the 3-on-5.
Special teams and persistence paid off as the Lions tied the game. Only 10 seconds remained on a hooking call to Vermont’s Kevin Irwin when Scott Conway was robbed by Santaguida from the left side, but the rebound stayed in play long enough for Conway to convert his own rebound at 4:08 of the third.
Musico, who made his first start of the season, improved to 2-1-1 on the year with a 33-save effort, while Santaguida slipped to 5-6-0 despite making 35 stops.
Game Notes
Penn State has won two of three games against Vermont in Philadelphia, following up a 4-2 victory in the inaugural meeting on Jan. 19, 2013.
UVM senior defenseman and Flyers’ 2010 draft pick Nick Luukko finished with two blocked shots but was a minus-2.
The Nittany Lions won 45 of 87 faceoffs as a whole, with senior forward Taylor Holstrom
taking 16-of-23 draws. Fallon took 41 draws for the Catamounts and won 19.
Santaguida’s 35 saves tied a season high. He also accumulated as many stops in a 2-0 win at St. Lawrence on December 13
College Hockey in Philadelphia
Simply put, the city and its hockey brain trust must do better to draw people to the sport, and make it easier for media to do their jobs.
Taking advantage of thousands of Penn State alums within easy driving distance of South Philadelphia is one thing, but an opponent like Vermont –- with little cachet beyond those few who know and love the Division I game and lacking the sheer numbers of devoted fans –- probably won’t like giving up a home game (or any game) to a location almost 300 miles away.
From growing up in the region and witnessing firsthand the overwhelming support Notre Dame held in addition to Penn State, this would be a no-brainer as far as fan interest is concerned of the PCHF is to progress past its initial stages. While the number of alums from ND may be significantly fewer than PSU here, the overall support for the Golden Dome brand is strong and both sides would draw better than the less-than-half-a-house I witnessed today –- which was demonstrably better than the prior two games but nowhere near enough to draw attention to how listless the atmosphere was within.
Penn State and Philadelphia-based college hockey fans deserve to have a nationally-known and willing program whose fans are legion and travel well, come to see hockey in a professional environment.
“I hope so. We had a great experience this year. The Wells Fargo treats us great, our alumni treat us great, it’s hard not to want to come here,” Gadowsky admitted when asked if he wanted to see more Penn State games in Philly.
The Frozen Four last April forced the Wells Fargo Center and everyone invested in putting on a great tournament to put their best forward at all times; media access was centralized and given the space and time necessary for all concerned to get what they needed. We know that any future games can’t possibly reach the heights of a national tournament, but if the NCAA is willing to place their title competitions in large markets, the least these cities can do is try and attract decent-sized audiences year after year to keep Division I fresh in their minds.
On Saturday, owing to the fact that the Flyers and Maple Leafs comprised the second half of the double header, players on both sides were rushed out the door and neither players nor coaches engaging with media members could provide much information or insight given their limited window.
Things worked easier the first two times, when the college game was the back end of a Penguins-Flyers twinbill in January of 2013 and when the Flyers were on the road in October of 2013 and the second edition was again held on a Saturday night.
Beanpot Trot
Tonight at TD Garden, the 63rd annual Beanpot gets underway with semifinal matches pitting top-10 programs Boston University and Harvard in the early contest (5 PM) then Boston College and Northeastern in the (8 PM) nightcap.
The matchup rotations pit these schools against each other every three years. In 2012, the Terriers topped the Crimson 3-1, while the Eagles whipped the Huskies by a 7-1 count. In that year's final, current Adirondack Flames forward Bill Arnold beat Parker Milner with six-plus seconds to play in OT to give BC a 3-2 victory over BU.
Author's Note: Due to the snow storm which steamrolled Eastern New England, the Beanpot semis were postponed from their traditional first Monday slot. The last time any games were delayed occurred in 1983, while the consolation and final games were pushed back until March 1 thanks to the Blizzard of 1978.
It’s an important tournament for several reasons. First of all, both Northeastern and Harvard resume their Quixotic quest to win a Beanpot for the first time in forever: since 1988 for the Huskies and since 1993 for the Crimson. Second, BC has won the last five times, and, with two more victories on successive Mondays, can tie the all-time record for consecutive trophies at six -- originally set by Jack Parker’s Terriers from 1995-2000.
Third, the field for this provincial mid-Winter madhouse is the most balanced in years.
Though Northeastern is just 10-11-4 this season, they’ve managed to reach the final contest two years running and four of the last six years. Boston University sports a 16-4-4 record, leads Hockey East, remained at the No. 2 spot in the latest poll, and heads into the tourney with four or fewer losses for the first time since 1998. Harvard, which hasn’t won it all since head coach Ted Donato was in his second NHL season with the Boston Bruins, is 12-5-2 and will look to maintain the mojo it gained from knocking BU out of the No. 1 spot in the polls thanks to a 3-2 OT win at Agganis Arena in late November. And thanks to a 9-1-2 stretch, Jerry York’s Eagles clock in at 16-8-2 tied for second in conference behind their red and white rivals.
Boston University still rules the roost, having won 29 Beanpots. Boston College is next at 19, while Harvard’s taken 10 and Northeastern only four.
Here’s a sampling of current NHLers who have participated in Boston’s finest display of college hockey:
Boston University: Colin Wilson (Nashville), Charlie Coyle (Minnesota), Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis).
Boston College: Cam Atkinson (Columbus), Brooks Orpik (Washington), Ben Smith (Chicago).
Northeastern: Jamie Oleksiak (Dallas).
Harvard: Alex Killorn (Tampa Bay), Craig Adams (Pittsburgh).
Potential final games break down like this: BC-BU (last time 2012, won by BC 3-2 OT); BC-Harvard (last time, 2008, won by BC 6-5 OT); Northeastern-Harvard (never occurred previously); Northeastern-BU (last time 2009, won by BU 5-2).
Join the Discussion:
»