The first annual Three Rivers Classic will start on December 28th and run through December 29th. The tournament will feature four Division I college programs, each playing two games at Consol Energy Center, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The four programs are Penn State, Robert Morris University, Ohio State, and Miami of Ohio University. Today, we will take a look at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are in their first season as a varsity Division I hockey program. Ironically, they will play RMU, a program that was previously the last school to join the Division I ranks until this year. Penn State and RMU make up two of the three Pennsylvania schools with NCAA Division I hockey; Mercyhurst the third school.
Leading them is freshman David Glen with 16 points (8 g, 8a) in 15 games. The Fort Saskatchewan native will be essential to knocking off the Colonials Friday night and pushing the Nittany Lions into the championship round to face either Ohio State or Miami. Glen has yet to go back to back games without registering a point and he has five multi-point games in the 2012-2013 season.
But he’s not the only freshman contributing. Casey Bailey is second on the team in scoring with 11 points while four more freshmen make up six of Penn State’s top ten scorers.
First year coach Guy Gadowsky was brought in to lift the Nittany Lions off the ground and so far the team has done just that, albeit with some growing pains. Penn State went 6-2-1 to start the season but since then, has lost six of their last eight including a painful 3-2 loss at Robert Morris on December 15th. In that game, the Nittany Lions had a 2-1 lead before giving up a goal in each of the last two periods.
Still, Penn State looks to be a squad rapidly on the rise and while RMU, OSU and Miami U all wish to leave Pittsburgh with a trophy, a tournament win for Penn State will make a much more significant impact on the program moving forward.
Photo courtesy of Centre daily
