I Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 PSU sweeps heated series By Paul Casella COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Despite having allowed no goals through the first two periods, the story of the No. 5 Penn State leers’ game Saturday _ _ was not junior .„ CIK Teddy Hume’s ictus hrst potential shutout of the season. Nor was it senior captain Matt Kirstein scoring his first goal since returning from a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) that kept him out more than a month. Marek Polidor had a chance for a hat trick on a penalty shot but that wasn’t it either. With Penn State (17-2-1. 11-0-1) leading No. 13 Delaware 6-0 the eventual final score a skirmish erupted with 12:20 left in the third, resulting in six combined penal ties and two Delaware players receiving 10-minute misconducts. Overall Saturday, ,iie teams com bined for 60 penalty minutes, 40 of which came in the third, and two Delaware ejections. “When we got up by that much, obviously I knew that kind of stuff was going to happen in the third period,” coach Scott Balboni said. “But we did pretty good. We had to Ryan Ulsh/Collegian Penn State’s Nick Seravalli (12) skates around the Delaware net during the leers’ 6-0 win Saturday after noon. The wins were the team’s first since its 11-game winning streak was snapped last weekend. Kirstein impactful in return By Tom Kinslow COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER It was as if he never left. As the Penn State leers neared the midway point of the first peri od, forward George Saad fired on Delaware goalie S.J. Broadt. The puck bounced off the goal tender and ricocheted to leers senior captain Matt Kirstein. Kirstein fired at the net, bounc ing the puck off of Broadt and into the back of the net. That first goal of the game pro pelled Penn State to a 6-0 victory and weekend sweep of rival Delaware as Kirstein finally made his return from injury. The senior had been sidelined with a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) that had kept him out of practice and the lineup since late October. With that absence in mind, leers coach Scott Balboni limited the forward’s playing time during the weekend. Kirstein saw spot action, get ting shifts here and there as he eased back into action after miss ing 10 games. This was something the senior believes paid off. “I gotta get my conditioning back,” Kirstein said. "Our coach- defend ourselves, but we didn’t instigate anything or do anything stupid. We just dealt with it, got the game done and got the sweep we wanted." Picking up the sweep Saturday was possible after the leers won Friday night’s game in the sev enth round of a shootout. Hume’s 34 saves, not including the six shots he turned away in the shootout, led the way for the leers defense. Hume also picked up an assist on the team’s only goal in regula tion. One night later, Hume was the center of attention again. He was put in an unfamiliar sit uation when Delaware goalie Kurt Pflumm charged out of his net in Hume's direction during that stop page at the 12:20 mark. Pflumm, who was upset after Hume shot the puck down the ice during the stoppage, was met at his own blue line by one of his teammates and an official, who quickly ejected the net minder. Aside from the hoopla, Hume grabbed the spotlight with a 38- save shutout. "Being consistent is the biggest thing," he said. "I thought I played well Friday, but it wouldn’t mean a lick if I did- ing staff did a good job of not over extending me and having me play too much, and our team played very well today, and we got a good win out of it.” As Kirstein settled into being back into game situations, he said the most difficult part of returning was mental. The senior felt some nagging doubts in his mind about his knee, but after taking a couple of big hits on Friday night, he felt more confident in the healed injury The goal was also a contribut ing factor. “I think it picks up your morale a bit." Kirstein said. "It gets you going, you know, you’re like Alright, I popped one in. Now I can start playing, con centrate on defense, backcheck ing. things like that.’ I think this weekend I tried to keep it simple and play physical, play good defense and play my position. After that, goals are anything you could ask for.” Kirstein's morale wasn’t the only one boosted during the week end. Forward Tim O'Brien said that Kirstein's return marked the injection of the certain things the senior brings to the table that led to his being named captain. SPORTS Ryan Ulsh/Coliegian Referees break up a fight between Penn State's Tim O'Brien (10) and Delaware's Andre Menard during Saturday’s leers win. The two teams combined for 60 penalty minutes and two Delaware ejections. n’t come out and do the same thing [Saturday]. We’re not here to split with teams. We’re here to sweep them.” And although Hume never left his own crease during the events, he said Pflumm’s actions only motivated the leers. “It definitely gives us motiva tion, and we feed off that,” he said. “The first 10 minutes of the game we were a little sluggish, but when things got more intense, we “He’s always going to go out and give his all, and it’s good to see him come back and do that and finally getting healthy,” O’Brien said. “So hopefully we can keep him healthy and he keeps competing and keeps bat tling because it makes it harder for the coaches to make their line up, which is something that’s good and we need that a little more.” With Kirstein’s return and immediate impact, not to mention the lack of pain experienced in the knee by the senior following the weekend’s set, it would be easy for the forward to get eager for more playing time in future games. That isn’t the case with Kirstein. Kirstein said he needs to get his conditioning back lost by his month-long absence and that he is more than content with his cur rent role. So is his coach. “Next weekend we’ll spot play him and get him back into full shape so that when we go into the second half, when we’re ready to start, that he’s 100 percent and ready to go," Balboni said. To e-mail reporter: tpksol6@psu.edu turned it on and there was no look ing back after that.” Despite emotions running high "You just have to stay focused between the rivals, Penn State and pick your moments,” he said, received only one misconduct "Sometimes you just have to shy penalty this weekend to away and realize that playing the Delaware’s four. next day is more important than That lone misconduct penalty fighting and getting ejected, was on senior captain John Conte Especially when a sweep like this in the first period of Friday's can help us steam roll into next game. semester.” Conte later came back and scored with the game on the line To e-mail reporter: plcso32@psu.edu Hume’s shutout overshadowed By Tom Copain COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER At the apex of Saturday’s chaos filled third period, Teddy Hume just leaned back against the cross bar of his net. When Delaware goalie Kurt Pflumm skated out to his blueline, possibly trying to challenge Hume to a fight, he still leaned against the crossbar. when And u„ mo Pflumm nume charged out of the tunnel after being ejected trying to get to Hume, Hume didn’t move a muscle. The near-fight between the two goalies is perhaps what the lasting image of the Penn State leers’ 6-0 win over Delaware Saturday after noon will be, but lost in the leers' offensive outburst and astronomi cal penalty minutes is Hume’s 38- save shutout against the No. 13 team in the country. “He played really well." defenseman Steve Thurston said. “Giving up one goal in a weekend, that’s gonna probably give us two wins almost every weekend if he can do that. So, as long as he keeps doing what he’s doing, then we’U be in good shape.” It was a long way from the championship game of the PAL/Stovepipe Tournament last Sunday, when Hume allowed four goals in the second period and six goals overall before getting pulled. Hume bounced back this week end, however, allowing only one goal in Penn State’s 2-1 shootout win over the Fighting Blue Hens Friday. Saturday, Hume was in the zone early. Delaware had the first three shots of the game, which Hume stopped. He made 10 saves in the first period while the leers took an early lead on Delaware. “He’s taken the No. 1 role and run with it,” Penn State coach Scott Balboni said. “He knew he had a bad game in the NCAA tour nament up there. He didn't play very well. “He knew he was the No. 1 guy. came back, played strong for two games. So I think that confidence is starting to run over and he's playing well.” As the game went on, Hume got better and luckier. The Daily Collegian in the shootout to keep Penn State alive. “Giving up one goal in a weekend, that’s gonna probably give us two wins almost every weekend.” Steve Thurston senior defenseman The few pucks that did get by Hume either trickled wide or were kept out by his Penn State team mates. But it wasn't until the third peri od. when the game was out of reach and there were almost as many penalty minutes as there were shots on goal, that Hume made his best save of the night. It was a low shot from a Delaware plat er from around the circles. Hume made a glove save and then flipped up on his back to show the officials, the fans and Delaware that he had the puck. “The guy came down, sort of pumped, faked a shot and I bit it,” Hume said. "I wasn’t patient, and then he went the other way. But I was able io get up and slide over and luckily get a glove on it.” Hume s 14th win and first solo shutout he split time with Dan Ivanir for two shutouts against Navy last month of the season capped off a weekend where he had two wins, allowed one goal, had an assist, received an unsportsmanlike conduct for his role in the near-altercation and almost got into a fight. And after it was all said and done and Pflumm was off the ice, Hume skated around his net with a big smile on his face. "I wasn't feeling too great after last Sunday." Hume said. “To come out here and put two good games together really helps my confidence. I'm ready to get back at it and keep that juggernaut going." To e-mail reporter: tecso26@psu.edu Teddy Hume’s weekend -Two vans -73 shots faced -One goal allowed -One assist -Two penalty minutes
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