Category: Sportswriting Page 3 of 7

The Icers’ run-and-gun offense continues to shoot out the rapid fire goals as they guned down both Buffalo State 6-2 and Ohio University 7-2 to win the OU Tournament.

“These are the toughest games we’ve had this season,” said forward Ross Cowan. “But once we get started, it is hard to slow back down. We really get up for games like these.”

Since the Icers no longer play Niagra, OU has developed into one of Penn State’s most intense rivals.”We don’t need any incentive to be up for OU,” Cowan said. “We’ll go after them just because of who they are.”

Both teams blazed out like fire on ice for the first period of the Championship match between the two arch rivals. OU was coming off of a 19-2 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, and the Icers handled Buffalo State 6-2.

Both teams were executing every play with fine precision, and were scrapping for the opportunity to be the first step up.

Almost nine minutes into the first period the C.C.M. line started the scoring. Mark Cervellero with an assist from his brother Chris Cervellero, and forward Dave Murphy, whom the line is named for, momentarily broke the stalemate.

Six minutes later OU answered with a power play goal of its own. Less than two minutes later, a similar exchange took place when Cowan’s goal was answered by a fluke OU goal.

“The guy was in the corner and threw the puck at the net and it bounced off of a defender’s leg,” Battista said. “There was nothing you can realy do in situations like that. It was luck.”

Nearing the end of the first period the Icers unleashed a mini-flurry, and scored two quick unanswered goals.

Cowan quoted his coach saying, “We’re an experienced offensive team, and when we score, you can expect two or three more to follow. We will score in flurries.”

The first was a play that the Icers have worked on all season. Brad Russle was behind the net, and made a pass out to Cowan, who was at the left face-off circle, and Cowan centered the puck to Rob Keegan, who was streaking towards the net, and sunk the puck.

“It was an extremely competitive first period,” Battista said. “It makes for great hockey to watch.”

The Icers wanted to establish their dominance early in the second period, and scored the first goal in only two and a half minutes.

OU breifly threatened a comeback in the form of a 3-on-1 breakaway, but a swift save by John Gray took the frost out of OU’s bite.

“Johnny was tough in the net,” Cowan said. “He was great, and without him our goals wouldn’t have mattered.”

Battista said the Icers played flawless hockey through the second and third period of the match, and was pleased with the balance of the offense and defense. The Icers left OU very few shots on goal, and increased their lead to 6-2 at the end of the second period.

The final goal came at the end of the third period when Keegan with an assist from Cowan and Scott Mangene sealed the game, and the OU Tournament championship with a 7-2 victory over their rivals.

“We learned our potential,” Cowan said. “We still need to work, but we learned what we can do against tough opponents.”

Battista is quite pleased with the championship, but is still wary over getting overly excited this early in the season.

“We got our first piece of hardware, but I’m still trying to suppress the excitement,” he said, ” but, boy, we were playing some great hockey. I still have to try to contain my excitement, though, the season is young.”

When applying for colleges, field hockey player Kirt Benedict wasn’t sure if she would be able to play for a Division III team, let alone start for the Division I Lady Lions.

“I applied for 11 schools,” Benedict said. “Everything from Division III to Division I. When I visited Penn State, I fell in love with the school, and I knew it had a big field hockey program.”

Benedict is happy with her choice, and wants to help her team get a bye in the first round of the NCAA tournament. To do that, the Lady Lions must win both of their home games this weekend. At 7 tonight, the Lady Lions host Ohio State on the turf adjacent to Holuba Hall, and at 3 on Sunday, they will do battle with Northwestern for the second week in a row.

“They (Northwestern) need this game bad,” Benedict said. “We’re going to have to come out as a team and score early. We have to kick butt!”

Benedict has not yet scored a goal this season, but said she wants to end that scoreless streak this weekend.

“I always expect more of myself,” she said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself, and it damages my game. I still do it to myself. I know I can do better.”

When Benedict is not second guessing herself, she has tremendous stick skills, and a lot of speed.

“Sometimes you’ll see her surrounded by defenders, and she’ll come up with this move and burn them all,” junior Sharon Kuntz said. “She is incredibly fast too. I’ve seen her outrun everybody on the field. She has all the potential in the world when she uses her instincts.”

Benedict jokingly said one of her goals is to stop thinking. She wants to quit thinking before she reacts on the field, and start relying on her impulses. Once she can do this she feels her game will improve immensely.

“I always just miss the big play,” Benedict said. “If I can just react a little faster, I know I can make a difference.”

Senior co-captain Jen Stewart said Benedict may not be the big play finisher, but without her there couldn’t be any big plays.

“She has excellent moves, especially when she is moving the ball up the right side,” Stewart said. “She is the person who puts the ball upfield so the plays can happen.”

Stewart feels when Benedict has faith in herself, and trusts her instincts, she is also capable of producing the big plays just like anybody else.

“All she needs is to have confidence in herself,” Stewart said. “I’ve seen her make the big plays. Everybody else has the confidence in her, she just needs to have some in herself.”

“Winning isn’t everything, but losing sucks.”

That is the philosophical core of Icer Chris Cervellero’s competitive attitude.

Cervellero said with everything he does, he gives it his all, and strives to win.

“He’s a competitor,” Icers Coach Joe Battista said. “It doesn’t matter what it’s in, you just get into a conversation with him. He wants to win the conversation.”

Senior goalie John Gray said Cervellero doesn’t accept losing very well, and that he does everything with a pure desire to win.

“He runs on an emotional high,” Gray said. “He uses his desire to create scoring opportunities. He always has a strong will to win.”

Cervellero said he is especially anxious for some big wins this weekend when the Icers travel to Ohio University for the Ohio U. Tournament. The Icers’ first opponent will be Buffalo State, and Battista said they’ve always been a tough opponent.

“They’ve always been a thorn in our side,” Battista said. “They beat us in the opening round of the League playoffs last year, and I think the guys have revenge in mind.”

The Icers have also built up a rivalry with OU after Penn State upset them en route to the 1990 National Championship. Ohio has since been a menace to the Icers.

“We can’t look past Buff State,” Cervellero said. “But I want to get to OU, and show them what we got.”

This determination has made many good things happen, but it has also led to some time in the penalty box for Cervellero.

“Any time you play with that level of intensity things are bound to happen,” Battista said. “He gets caught up in the game, and spends some time in the box as a result. But he comes back out and makes up for it.”

Cerveellero has matured a lot as a person and as a hockey player, Battista said.

“He used to do a lot of yelling at refs,” the coach continued, “but he still played excellent hockey. He’s matured a lot and has become a good role model.”

Battista is quite pleased with the emotion that Cervellero plays on, and said he wished he could have more players with his qualities.

“I wish I could mass produce him,” Battista said. “I wish there were more guys that came with the tools he has.”

In his first shift, in his first game as a freshman, Cervellero scored his first goal. Since that time he has scored his way up to the No. 14 all time scorer for the Icers. Gray said he feels Cervellero’s emotions are what drives him to create the scoring opportunities.

“His fire is what makes him such a big part of the big plays.” Gray said. “He’s not necessarily a finesse player, but he’s got the talent and the heart to get through.”

Battista said, for as long as he can remember, the players who have worn the jersey No. 17 have played the same brand of hockey that Cervellero does.

“He does justice to the jersey he wares,” Battista said. “All of the guys who have worn that No. 17 have played that same brand of wreckless abandon hockey. It isn’t pretty, but they play with the desire that creates goals and wins games.”

Cervellero said everything he does, is to benefit the team rather than himself. He said he loves being a part of a team, especially this Icers team, and would do anything for them.

“He’d go through a brick wall if he thought it would help,” Battista said. “That’s just the kind of guy he is.”

Defense. Defense. Defense. Chris McGinley. More defense.

The field hockey team clinched the regionals, and a bid to the NCAA tournament, with its noticeably defensive 2-0 victory over unranked West Chester last night on the Holuba Hall Turf.

Once again, the Lady Lions came out to a match with intentions of an offensive game. Once again, the opposing team forced the Lady Lions to play a very defensive match.

Penn State is now used to this type of match, and rose to the occasion nicely.

“They played strong. They came at us, they were ready to go,” freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister said. “But, our defense, as usual, turned it on. We’re just never down, even on slow games like this one, we always play to our fullest potential.”

The defensive effort, combined with two unassisted goals from McGinley, was enough to get the win, clinch the regionals, and secure a bid for the Lady Lions in the NCAA tournament. Morett, however, feels some work is necessary before they get there.

“The win clinched the regionals, and we’ll get a bid just out of our region alone,” Coach Char Morett said. “It is nice to know that we are in, but now we have to work on the things we need to put us in contention.”

The Lady Lions have been working on spreading out their field play, and being more accurate on their possession passes. They were not given much of a chance to show if the work was worthwhile; West Chester came out with an attack that was stronger than Morett and the Lady Lions had expected.

“I thought West Chester played really well tonight,” Morett said. “Better than we had expected. We didn’t posses the ball as well as we had anticipated, and we didn’t work to spread things out.”

West Chester Coach Kathy Krannebitter said that she was pleased with her teams performance, and said her team is not as bad as the record shows.

“We are a lot better than our record shows,” Krannebitter said. “All of our losses were really close.”

Krannebitter said that her team tends to play to the talent of the opposing team.

“We play up to the competition,” she said. “When we play great teams like Penn State, we play great, but it just wasn’t enough.”

West Chester’s great play was enough to shut down Penn State’s typically potent penalty corner, and silenced the Lady Lion attack.

The penalty corner defensive on both sides was particularly strong. Meister had eight saves on the night, and had some of her best saves on the penalty corners.

“Their shots were coming hard,” Meister said. “As usual, our defense countered strong. This is the defense we will need to keep playing to continue winning, especially this weekend on through the tournament.”

You name it, Sharon Kuntz has played it.

The junior Kuntz has become the utility player for the field hockey team, and she has displayed the versatility to play wherever she is needed.

Where Kuntz will appear next is a mystery. She played midfield last weekend, and played strong defensively and offensively.

Kuntz is still not sure where she will fit into the everchanging lineup when the Lady Lions face West Chester at 7 tonight on the turf adjacent to Holuba Hall.

“I really don’t know where I’ll play if I play,” Kuntz said, “but wherever it is, I will do my best to help the team.”

Her help can only benefit the Lady Lion’s effort against unranked West Chester.

Coach Char Morett feels the game will be tough despite West Chester’s poor record.

“I don’t feel their record reflects their talent,” she said. “We have to keep things spread out like we did last weekend.”

Kuntz was a large factor in keeping the action spread out in the Lady Lions’ victories against Michigan State and Northwestern.

“She was reading the field really well,” Kirt Benedict said. “I always thought of her as a defensive player, then last weekend I saw her up with us taking shots on goal. I was impressed.”

For the most part, Kuntz has been a defensive player, but she has proved her self worthy at any position.

“She started the season as sweeper,” Morett said, “but since she has played back, left wing, middie, but her main focus is defense.”

Morett started the season experimenting with new field systems. She used one system in particular, which utilized a position new to the field hockey team — sweeper. Kuntz was the perfect person for the position and as a part of the ongoing experiment, Morett decided that field system was not optimal for the Lady Lions. She eliminated it, and subsequently the sweeper position.

So, Kuntz, who was a starting defensive back last season, was without a position. Kuntz needed to work her way back into the starting line up.

During the week of practice, prior to the second Iowa game, junior defender Becca Main dislocated her shoulder. Kuntz was her replacement for the big game.

“I want to be the first to commend her,” senior co-captain Amy Stairs said. “She came back real strong. A lot of people don’t come out strong after being out for a while. Sharon snapped right back, and even a step up.”

Stairs said she felt the time off for Kuntz was to her benefit, and may even have served as an eye opener to help her re-assess her goals.

Since that time, Kuntz has become a big play producer for the team. Unfortunately for her, the stats don’t show who starts the big plays, but who finishes them. Kuntz, unfazed by this, said she will do what is best for the team, and try to have fun in the process.

“You’ve got to be relaxed when you are out there,” Kuntz said. “If you think too much it isn’t fun anymore, and that is what sports are about.”

The field hockey team set the ball rolling again as it marked its 300th and 301st career victories this weekend toppling Michigan State and No. 15 Northwestern.

The Lady Lions and their high rank have made them a tasty morsel for many teams, who are in need of a big win. This was another one of those weekends.

Northwestern, on the bubble for the NCAAs, needed to beat Penn State to make the tournament.

It didn’t happen.

Penn State put a serious damper on these dreams Saturday when they roared out to an intense 2-1 victory.

Intense, being the key word.

After a lackluster match last week against North Carolina, the field hockey team came off of an intense week of practice, and shut down Michigan State 3-0, Friday.

“We applied what we practiced,” Kirt Benedict said. “We went over our goals, and knew what we needed to do. We had more possession passes, and spread out the field more, and it made the difference.”

The last time the two teams met, Penn State had a difficult time getting by Michigan State.

“They knew what happened with us in the NC game,” senior forward Danielle Annibale said. “And we knew that they would come at us for it.”

In this meeting, things happened much differently. The Lady Lions dominated the game, and outshot the Lady Spartans 40-3.

“Last time we were taken back by their style of play,” Coach Char Morett said. “This time we were able to open up the field and create some opportunitites.”

Senior defender Jill Pearsall started the Lady Lion scoring midway through the first half, when she slammed a penalty shot by Michigan goalkeeper Sarah Humpage.

Later in the first half, the Lady Lions lost Annibale to a gash in her chin. Annibale, however, returned for the Northwestern match.

“I didn’t even know I was hurt until Char called time-out,” Annibale said. “She told me to rush the free pass, so I did. It was a close call the first time, but it was the second time that got me.”

The Lady Lions spent the remainder of the first half and a big part of the second half slamming shots at the Michigan State goal. Humpage had 26 saves on the night, and was able to keep the match within one point, until the last 10 minutes.

Jen Stewart finally broke the will of Humpage, with an unassisted goal with a little less than 10 minutes left.

Freshman forward Tara Maguire decided to follow the example of her captain, and closed out the Penn State scoring.

“I was really psyched when I scored,” Maguire said. “I have been out for a while, and when I got in I wanted to do the best I could to prove I can still be an effective player. My excitement basically cancelled the pain in my ankle.”

The Lady Lions carried their excitement into their match with Northwestern.

The Wildcats came out to establish their threat to Penn State early, and scored about midway through the first half. The goal was not a pretty one, but it was the score that counted.

“The goal was a fluke,” Morett said. “It went under Shelly’s leg pad, and they rushed it in.”

Determined not to be outdone, Chris McGinley intercepted a free-in, and drove it in for a score.

That was the extent of the scoring until late in the game when junior defender Becca Main made a cross goal pass to Annibale, who in turn slammed it in.

“Becca hit a nice cross ball,” Annibale said. “I just happened to get my stick on the ball, and hit it in.”

No matter how she did it, it was the game winning goal, and it gave the Lady Lions the win they needed.

“We were ready to play this weekend,” Benedict said. “If we can keep ourselves prepared, and continue to work. I think we can win the NCAAs.”

The Icers sent the Thundering Herd cowering home with their tails between their legs this weekend as the high flying bunch outscored the Penn State football team, when they destroyed Buffalo 30-2 in two games.

Coming into the weekend, Icer Coach Joe Battista said he knew the Thundering Herd was a young, rebuilding team, but was not sure what to expect from them.

“This is their first game,” Battista said, “They are young, but look what we did with a young team when we won the National Championship.”

The Icers, not knowing what to expect, came at the Thundering Herd full force. The Herd was able to resist the momentum, only until about 15 minutes into the first period. From that point on, the Icers blew by the Herd without any resistance. The Icers annihilated Buffalo 20-0 on Friday and creamed them 10-2 Saturday.

“I think they gave up,” said senior forward Chris Cervellero after Friday’s blowout. “We didn’t know what to expect, and we were so fired up to be playing at home.”

Of the 30 goals, 20 of them were scored in the first match when the Icers registered their second shut out of the season. Amongst the 20 goals on Friday, four Icers finished the night with hat tricks: Andy Strasser, Steve Karl, Chris Cervellero and Ross Cowan. Cervellero’s clinched his hat trick with two quick goals in the last ten seconds.

“I felt bad,” Cervellero said. “We weren’t trying to run up the score, but I am not the type of player who lets up in situations. That’s just the way I play hockey.”

Even the Icers’ checking line got into the scoring action. They scored seven goals collectively, and nine assists to boot.

“I mean, when your checking line scores seven goals in one game,” Battista said, “you know you’ve got a lot of firepower, and can give a lot of different offensive looks.”

The obvious lack of competition gave the Icers a chance to find some positive use for the time. The games provided Battista with a chance to look at some of the less experienced players in game situations.

“. . .I don’t think these games hurt us.” Battista said. “We got to look at some guys who hadn’t played yet, and to try some new systems we’ll need later on in the year.”

Battista started Saturday’s game testing new systems and plays to give some different looks to the scouters.

“It’s just like a football team,” Battista said. “If you give them the same look every week they will start to catch on. So we worked on some different lines and systems. I found some I liked, and others that still need some work.”

Despite all of the experimentation, the Icers cranked out 10 more goals to Buffalo’s two.

Battista was excited about what he saw this weekend, but is hesitant about being prematurely excited.

“We don’t know if it is for real yet,” Battista said, “It is easy for us to get excited, we’ve had over 60 shots on goals two games in a row. The season is young, and our toughest competition is yet to come.”

Senior goalkeeper John Gray finds that he is the key to the Icer’s run and gun offense, and he does not even have to leave the goal.

Icers Coach Joe Battista cited the philosophy of a fellow coach of building his team “from the net out.” He feels this is a solid foundation for accomplishing what he wants to do with his offense.

“We have a lot of confidence in Johnny,” Battista said. “We couldn’t run this type of offense if we couldn’t count on him to rise to the occasion.”

The Icers are placing a strong emphasis on a fast attacking offense, but to do this they must have a strong back up at the goal in case of a breakdown.

“I look forward to the challenge,” Gray said. “The run and gun will produce a lot of big goals for us, but sometimes that leaves the defense exposed.”

Battista feels that this places a lot of pressure on Gray, but he also feels that Gray is up for the challenge.

“He slipped a little last season,” Battista said, “but I think he is just waiting for the right opportunity to come back. If I didn’t think he could rise to the occasion I wouldn’t do it.”

Gray already established a great start, against Erie College, he recorded his eighth career shutout to set a Penn State record. Gray said that he is not content to stop there. He said there is still a lot that he wants to do.

He will have his chance to start tonight, and again tomorrow afternoon, as the Icers face former ICHL foe the University of Buffalo.

“We are all pumped up for the occasion,” Gray said. “It is the last home opener we will have, and we are going to come out very intense.”

The Thundering Herd is a young, rebuilding team, but has every intention of coming at the Icers in stampeed fashion.

“I have no illusions,” said Buffalo Coach Richard Brooks. “Penn State is a strong team and they will be very tough. We are a young team, but I am confident we will do our very best. We’re not comming to lose.”

Gray said he likes the competition, and will not take any team lightly.

“They always play us tough,” Gray said. “I like that kind of hockey, but we cannot underestimate anybody. We have the potential to be one of the greatest Penn State teams ever, and we are going to play every game as if it were our last.”

Playing among greatness is not an unfamiliar feeling for Gray. In the spring of 1990, Gray’s freshmen year at Penn State, the Icers won the National Championship.

Gray’s time here at Penn State has been some what of the fairy tale fashion. In his freshman year, he coasted through the regular season with only 5 starts, and worked hard at making an impression. That impression came in the form of winning the MVP in the Nationals, and led the Icers to winning the National Championship.

“It was a great thing,” Gray said. “It was an incredible feeling to win it for the older guys.”

Gray came into the following season with the flair he finished with. In his sophomore year, he broke the record for the number of single season wins.

“Everybody expected it of me,” he said. “I guess I expected it of my self.”

Gray even added his effort to the offense, by chalking up a few assists to his credit.

“I like to play the puck,” Gray said. “I like to be a part of goals that mean something.”

Battista said he remembered one particular goal where Gray made a pass through to the opposing blue line for an assist on a breakaway goal.

“He’s got some fabulous stick play,” Battista said. “It really adds something to our defense.”

Gray said he will do whatever it takes to win this year, and has every intention of leading his team to another National Championship.

“We have the potential to be great,” Gray said. “I think we can be one of the best Penn State teams ever.”

After suffering two disheartening losses last weekend, the Lady Lions find themselves in a must-win situation if they hope to keep their dreams, and make it to the NCAAs.

The Lady Lions fell from No. 3 to No. 5 in the NCAA rankings this week after last weekend’s two near misses. The Lady Lions gave No. 1 Old Dominion a run for their rank, in a 2-1 loss on Saturday. On the other end of the scale, the Lady Lions lulled through their 2-1 loss to No. 4 North Carolina.

“We had a bad weekend,” senior co-captian Jen Stewart said. “We put our selves in this position, but we have the talent to rebound.”

The rebound process begins this weekend as the Lady Lions travel to Michigan State, and will also square off with No 17 Northwestern while there.

“We had a great week of practice,” junior Chris McGinley said. “If we play like we practiced, we will have a great weekend. As for the rankings, we don’t pay much attention to them. We just have to play to win.”

It wasn’t a lack of talent that beat the Lady Lions, and the individual stats reflect that. Despite the drop in the team ranks, the individual statistics still rank among he tops in the Big Ten.

Freshmen goalkeeper Shelly Meister is currently ranked second among the conference’s goalkeepers. She has a seasonal save percentage of .837, and already has five shutouts to her credit.

On the other end of the stick, junior Chris McGinley has been topping the scoring records for both the Lady Lions and the Big Ten. McGinley, last weekend scored a pair of goals, making her the fourth all-time scorer in Lady Lion history. She has 51 career goals, and just passed her Coach Char Morett at 50.

McGinley is also chipping away at the record for the number of goals scored in a single season. She has 21 this season, and the standing record is 24. The Lady Lions still have two weeks in the regular season.

In the Big Ten, the junior has maintained a steady third behind two players from first place Iowa. The stats, however, are not important to McGinley.

“Those are just numbers,” McGinley said. “They don’t mean anything to me. What is important is that the team wins.”

It’s safe to say that the Lady Lions have put themselves in a must win situation for the rest of the season, if they hope to get a buy into the NCAA tournament.

“We did not have to abandon our goals,” junior defender Becca Main said. “We just have to concentrate on them more, and that starts with this weekend. We will just take it a step at a time from there.”

As a part of their run and gun philosophy this year, the Icers look to create some big scoring opportunities in penalty situations.

Icer Coach Joe Battista feels that his team has the speed and tenacity to score short-handed goals, imagine what they could do for power plays.

“When other teams are a man up, they tend to kick it into slow gear,” Battista said. “Our penalty kill is going to work hard to take advantage of this, and catch the power play off guard.”

Senior Dave Murphy feels the Icers have the experience and skill to capitalize on key opportunities even when they are a man down.

“It fits well with our run and gun,” Murphy said. “We’re out to force some errors.”

Lary O’Byrne said their defensemen have a lot of reach, and will be able to steal many passes. With these steals will come some breakaway goals, and take away a lot of goals from the opposing power play.

This year the Icers are very offensive minded, and are taking some big chances in using an offensive penalty kill. Battista, and the rest of the team, has plenty of faith in senior goalie John Gray, and are willing to take these chances.

“You’ve got to have faith in your goalie before you take chances like we are,” Battista said. “Sometimes we will get burnt, but we know that Johnny will be there to break it up.”

Murphy said if they remember to be defensive while taking those chances, they will not be burned as much. On the power play, however, the attack is key to the Icers.

Battista is using two separate power play units, the White unit is known as the physical group, and the Blue is the finesse unit. Battista places great confidence in both units.

The Blue unit will be using an Umbrella formation, which will help them to set up the shots, and will put key players in position to get the rebounds. Another key is to spread the defense out by making a lot of cross-ice shots. This can either yield the big goals, or the big break up.

“It is a high risk, high reward situation,” Battista said. “If it works, we’re going to score. If it breaks down, we have to move on them, but I have the faith in these guys to take that chance.”

The Blue unit is loaded with the agile players with the delicate stick skills: Scott Mangene, Ross Cowan and newcomer Rob Keegan to name a few.

The White unit is more the bump and grind unit, and is loaded with the more physical players, who will attack the defense straight on. They use a lower umbrella, and compact the opposing kill team. The Blue unit will take any shot given, and will manipulate the defenders until a break occurs.

“We take any shot we can get,” Murphy said. “Our job is to reek havok, beat them down, and crash the goal.”

A key to the lower umbrella is distracting the goalie. This job is bestowed upon Murphy, who has been likened to a linebacker on skates. He said he skates from side to side, and even circles around the goal, and forces a defender to be on him at all times. If this defender were not present, Murphy would be in an ideal position to score. Instead the defender is forced to trail Murphy, which also shields the goalie’s view. Either way the White unit is in a position to create the scoring opportunities.

Battista is excited about this year’s icers, and feels if they work, they will be a force to reckon with.

“If these guys keep working, they have the potential of greatness,” Battista said. “I think we can have a great offense whether we are a man up or a man down, and we’ve got the defense to back it up.”