To the Finish

To the Finish

Vol. 117, No. 121 Monday, March 20, 2017 FIGHTTO THE FINISH Photo by: Linsey Fagan/Collegian PAGE 2 | MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2017 SPORTS THE DAILY COLLEGIAN B1G CHAMPIONS Peyton Jones, Liam Folkes lift Penn State men’s hockey Men’s hockey will face Union in to Big Ten tournament championship first round of NCAA Tournament, By Mark Fischer Penn State had difficulty setting up in the Bad- THE DAILY COLLEGIAN ger zone for the majority of the powerplay before team reacts to Selection Sunday Folkes buried a rebound from above the slot to put DETROIT –– Liam Folkes never received the the Nittany Lions on the board. The goal came By Jill Beckman bracket, coach Guy Gadowsky same praise and acclaim as some of his fellow right as the powerplay expired and fellow fresh- and Mark Fischer stepped into the hallway to take a freshmen throughout the regular season. man defenseman Kris Myllari and forward Bran- THE DAILY COLLEGIAN call with ESPN’s John Buccigross On Saturday night, though, he etched his name in don Biro picked up assists on the goal. as the crowd at Letterman’s fol- the Penn State history books. The Badgers, who are led primarily by 2016 first All eyes were on three televi- lowed along the interview on live In double overtime, Folkes took a pass at center- round draft pick Luke Kunin, heated up late in the sion screens in the front of the television. ice, raced down on a breakaway and slipped the first period. room, anxiously waiting to learn The Roar Zone was sitting at puck through Wisconsin goaltender Jack Berry’s Kunin’s linemate Matt Ustaski was all over the the Penn State’s destiny for the a long table toward the back of legs, giving the Nittany Lions a 2-1 victory, securing ice creating chances, but Jones kept the Nittany NCAA Tournament. the room, clearly waiting for Gad- their first-ever Big Ten Championship. Lions ahead after the first period. At Letterman’s, for an invite- owsky to mention the beloved stu- “I don’t know how I got that wide-open,” Folkes The second period didn’t feature much action as only watch party, Penn State dent section, and when he did, its said. “It was a really good pass [from Brandon both netminders fended away each shot sent their men’s hockey was joined by The members went wild. Biro]. I just made the move that I always go to in way. Roar Zone, the team’s student Liam Folkes, who was the hero practice.” Jones, who was magnificent throughout the section, several other fans and of Saturday’s Big Ten tourna- After playing the equivalent of over four games tournament, appeared well on his way to the third the media. ment Final with two goals includ- in three nights, the Nittany Lions were running on shutout of his career. The Nittany Lions locked up ing the game-winner, was put on fumes during overtime. But with 8:40 left in the game, Ustaski finally a spot in the program’s first- the spot by captain David Good- “Of course we’re tired. We played 13 periods [in solved the freshman netminder, scoring in tight to ever NCAA Tournament fol- win to give a speech in front of the three days],” Folkes said. tie the game at one.e. lowing their thrilling semifinal room.room. CaughtC off guard, Folkes But freshman goaltender Peyton Jones bailed his From that pointt fforward,orward, WWisconsinisconsin tootookk tthehe winwin over MinnesotaMinnesota iinn tthehe BBigig was at a loss for words, and his teammates out over and over again to keep Penn game over offensively,vely, as tthehe NNittanyittany LLionsions fifinallynally TenTen tournamenttournament sesemifinal.mifinal. BButut teammatesteamma later playfully teased State alive through the extra time. looked like a team tthathat hhadad pplayedlayed two overtovertimesimes wherewhere ttheyhey wouwouldld travetravell fforor tthehe himhim befobefore his interview with the During the first overtime, a puck soared over the night before againstgainst top-seededtop-seeded Minnesota.Minnesota. BigBig Dance, and who thetheyy would media.media. Jones’ head destined for the back of the net, before Jones continuedd to tthwarthwart ththee face,face, was unclear as the But FolkesFo immediately let the he reached back and swatted it away with his glove Badgers’ best efforts,rts, sendinsendingg PairWisePairWise ranrankingking reportersreporter know he was better at — one of many jaw-dropping saves for the Big Ten the game into overtime.rtime. — a statistical tool answeringanswerin questions than giving Tournament MVP. In 240:16 minuteses of actioactionn whichwhich determinesdetermines speeches.speeche “A tight game like that, it’s definitely a goalie during the tournament,ment, Jones thethe tournament “I actuallyact haven’t watched it duel,” said Jones, who made a career-high 51 saves. stopped 118 of 123 shshots.ots. fieldfield — fluctu-fluctu- too manyman times,” Folkes said, re- About seven minutes into the second overtime The Nittany Lionsons were fa-fa- atedated up untuntilil tthehe ferringferring his game-winner. “But I period, Folkes returned the favor. tigued during thee first over-overr- last conferenceconference was gettingget a lot of notifications “It’s a nice move,” Jones said. “I’m not going to time, but Jones againagain kkeptept tournamenttourn a m e nt on mymy pphone,h so everyone’s really tell you he scores on me every time [in practice], Penn State alive, stoppingstopping an-an- games.games. excitedexcited forf us.” I’m not going to tell you he scores on me regularly other 12 shots in thehe extraextra ses-ses- The base-base- AlreadyAlread tournament bound, but he’s a good player and I’m happy for him.” sion. ment erupteeruptedd Penn StateSt locked up an autobid Folkes responded: “When I do score on him, I use Midway through oovertime,vertime, in cheerscheers as afterafter a 2-1, double-overtime win that one.” David Goodwin beganegan to ESPNESPN an-an- over WWisconsini in the Big Ten Losing eight players to graduation, and one more celebrate as if hee hhadad nouncednounced that TournamentTournam Final on Saturday to the professional ranks, Guy Gadowsky always scored the winnerer oonn the third-third- night.night. said he expected 2016-17 to be a rebuilding season. a puck he tried to jjamam seededseeded Nit-Nit- GadowskyGadow was unsure of his Not even the charismatic head coach, now sport- past two Badgers,ers, tanytany LLionsions team’s cchances heading into the ing a playoff goatee, could’ve predicted that the Nit- but the refs immedi-di- wouldwould heheadad FinalFinal asas the Nittany Lions were tany Lions would eventually be Big Ten tournament ately waved it off. to Cincin-Cincin- comingcoming off an emotional double- champions and NCAA tournament bound. Wisconsin hadd nati,nati, OOhiohio to overtimeovertime win that ended around Penn State will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio next multiple oppor-r- take onon sec-sec- midnight.midnigh weekend for an NCAA first round matchup with tunities to closee ond-seededond-seeded “We honestlyh didn’t know if Union on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Penn State out. UnionUnion in we’dwe’d getget anything out of them at An exceptional season from an unheralded But Jones, andd thethe fifirstrst all,”all,” hhee ssaid. 11-member freshman class, combined with the the red iron framee rouroundn d AndAnd GadowskyG said he wouldn’t clutch play from upperclassmen and sophomores, behind him, kept thehe UnionU nion havehave blamedbla the Nittany Lions if made it a reality in the program’s fifth year of Divi- puck out of the nett as (25- theythey decideddec to “coast” since they sion I competition. the teams headedd to 9-3),9-3), knewknew theythe were already a lock for After taking down top-seeded Minnesota in a dou- double overtime. the NCAANCA tournament. ble-overtime thriller the night before, Penn State A defensive break-break- “But theyt had different ideas,” looked anything but exhausted to start the Big Ten down from the Badgersdgers whichwhich won thethe na-na- GadowskyGadows said. final. left Folkes, who wasas ro-ro- tional championship The coachc referred to Satur- The Nittany Lions controlled play early, throwing tated in and out off the iinn 2014, is led bbyy a day’sday’s winwi over the Badgers as a pucks on net from every angle. lineup and had jjustust ppairair ooff ddominantominant “phenomenal“phenom physical feat.” Both teams tightened up defensively at about the three goals and nineine upperclassmen:upperclassmen: “What“What they did [Saturday midway point of the first period, but a devastating points all season, all seniorsenior MMikeike night]night] wasw tremendous,” Gad- open-ice hit prompted some chippy play from both alone in the neutralal VecchioneVecchione (62 owskyowsky ssaid. “And it comes from sides. zone. points)points) and them.them. ItIt comes from the locker Alec Marsh went to retrieve a puck outside the He took a pass SpencerSpencer Foo room.room. IItt comes from how they offensive zone before he took a blindside, hit from from Biro before (60 points).points). feelfeel aboutabo each other and how Wisconsin’s Aidan Cavallini. Marsh appeared shaky ending the mar- BothBoth aarere theythey feelfee about Penn State Uni- as he made his way back to the Penn State bench athon game, and amongamong tthehe 10 versity.versity. Because there’s nothing and locker room. Marsh took a beating Saturday weekend, for the HobeyHobey BakerBaker Final-Final- thatthat cocoachesa can say to get them night, as he was helped off the ice after regulation Nittany Lions. ists,ists, annuaannuallylly gigivenven motivatedmotivate at that point.” as trainers attended to his right leg. to collegecollege hockehockey’sy’s Just a minute later, the Nittany Lions went on To emailmail reporter:reporter: mostmost outstandingoutstanding ToTo email reporter:r [email protected] and their first powerplay of the game as goaltender Pey- [email protected]@psu.edu.

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