I Wednesday. Feb. 17, 2010 Aleksander Ochocki (right) celebrate coach after last year's NCAA champiet U.S. tops in opening By Ira Podell sSOCivED D E;SS VANCOUVER. British (Columbia The IAS, kids were ail right. The youngest collection o .American hockey players since tht NHL began supplying the talent so; the 19;U> Nagano Games openeri totirnamen! with a workmanlike ' ; Melon' over Switzerland on Hies da Bobby Ryan scored late in the !:: period, and David Baekes and Kv; Malone added goals in the second help the United States avoid a refx of an opening-game letdown. Dur; the dOi'iti Turin Games, the Amencai began with a 3-3 tie agains! L.at\ and never challenged lor a medal. Ryan Miller, considered the key the U.S. chances to reach the podia r was solid in making i 4 saves L turned aside the handful ot sconn Swiss created and complied with rules barring corporate sponsorships by placing tape over the words "Miller Time" painted on his mask. His only blemish came with 10:15 remaining when a pass attempt by Roman Wick struck the goalie's out stretched stick and tantaiizingly trickled behind him I power-play goal. With only goalie Jonas Hitler and defenseman Mark Streit as regular NHL players. Switzerland put up some early resistance but ccukin! sustain it. Hiller stopped 21 shots, lac ing only two in the third period. In the appetizer before host Canada faced Norway, the Americans looked crisp and coasted to victoiy after a fast-paced start. Outside of a few miss connections on some pass es. there was no clear evidence die Americans had only one pract ic before play began. Many fans were decked out in red Canada jerseys, but there was plenty of support for the 1 S. and Swiss teams. The biggest cheers were reserved for American forward Ryan Kesler of the hometown Vancouver Canucks, and Mike Eruzione. who captained the U.S. to Miracle on Ice glory in 1980. Just when it seemed Switzerland might get even at 1. Miller fought of! a bouncing puck between his pads and got. a rush started the other way. Backes streaked down the left side, cut inside of defenseman Yannick Weber, and used a backhand-to-fore hand shift to beat Hiller at 5:52 ot the second. The Americans needed only 2:08 more to make it 3-0 as Malone found a U.S. forward Joe Pavelski (blue) watches a shot from ts a slide into the net against Switzerland in Tuesday's openmy -my ? ey play at the Winter Olympics. The U.S. defeated the Swiss 3 1 0 heading into its next game Thursday agamsf Norway Medal United States Switzerland •>; Swit Fencers Ochocki, Willette named to junior nationals It ?"1 5 " % a A. - H '' £ -"S ‘S&. j-i A. vnnenl ;m ause oi :'i\ exponc And $* hn f . >be wnnU-d !:• i ICVei' e\j current lu=;k! the Penn St;.' be she perfect privilege oi Waiseth, and senior'! between her .'or assistant coach. • Rene eouici be a vcr. 1 think Maron n,>s ih;<r keeps her eyes (in me pr a rlav off." For the Lions this year, one oi those prizes has been'an VA \ inuniamoni appearance -- pinymy for the Lions. Waiseth was a part oi many suceesshil teams while at Penn State, including the 2000 team that made the Final FOur and the 1008 Women's %*•* iipftfa uses past issistant coach naver lie '.-idle;;.' success and familiarity with the la iai State ptogram has been something she !ia> been able to use in practice with the current A- tiio head coach, she helps me in a lot of way-; understand what certain things mean and him significant some things are and how insignificant some things are to what we’re doing m terms of the direction we’re taking this program.'' Washington said. Washington's description of Walseth com to how Walseth described Portland, 'aid Portland was the kind of coach had a veiy basketball-specific language she able to translate to her players when explaining what to do on the court. Walseth. a one time student of the game, has stepped into Portland's former role. "Maren is a very intense coach." Washington said. "She does a great job with the post players. Our post players have such a great relationship vith Maren. She's an excellent, excellent eacher of the game. Very methodical." f 'urrently in the midst of a rollercoaster sea which has seen both a six-game winning ovak and a six-game losing streak in the past month and a half Walseth has been a major reason for the team's growth this year. "If you look at our post players since the time that we got here, you can see their steady growth and their steady improvement," Washington said. iu about hat A ha an. in nail >ah/ation 1 h'l.o she Hut when ■ I think that is in large part to the way Maren teaches and develops them." an took it would Walseth has been instrumental in the devel opment ot freshmen Nikki Greene and Marisa Wolfe, and Washington credits the amount of time and pride her assistant coach puts in with them. However, the amount of time Walseth puts in with the players is no surprise, as she realizes how special of a situation she is in being able to coach the team she once played for. "I know that I am in a unique situation to be able to take advantage of it," Walseth said. "It’s a lot of fun. I obviously am a product of the envi ronment. and I was successful in having a good experience. I kind of see it as my role to help other kids have that same experience that I did. "Or a better one." id a. ear start has had the Portland and similarities a; tier current i coach and 'irata said. "She ai she never takes The I)ail\ Collegian Ochocki experienced similar results, as lie implied second in the tournament after ! ■ i ''ini> io Will Spear in the final round. ( H'herki trailed 8-2 at the break before he exentually tied the match at 13. I did all the right stuff but then came 'i iit ! .u the cud." Ochocki said. "It felt good neiitc the junior national team because I ’ mu been on the team in the past two up- I*"', a good feeling to be back." tvnn Slate coach Emmanuil Kaidanov >■' ! i!1 !i -id of his fencers and their efforts the weekend. Kaidanov said it is a ceumplishment to make the team pe of how tough the competitors are. \ov the focus for Ochocki and Willette i turn bank to Penn State, with the 'A. v championships approaching at the u i a .March. r : ;r NCAA championships will definite ■ s;c u.s lor the world champi- Ochocki said. 'Many of the '■ncc-r.'- who compete have already fenced c !.::;;c,n,il team." game Feb. 7. iiional championship team. For Washington, this has been a big advan ce for ’he team. "She does an outstanding job of trying to con ■y to the current team the history, the tradi ms and the expectations that come with being Loch Lion." Washington said. "I think she has .Xission for this place because she is an alum." Washington also added this has been a big [vantage tor her too. With Washington now in her third year of kiir.g Penn State's basketball team, she Waiseth has been an invaluable asset on To e-mail reporter: adal47@|lsu.edu r gjgso44@psu.edu ' K :e nlmer Coilegian
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