ROSEMONT, Ill. – Sophomore goaltender Peyton Jones was named the Big Ten Second Star of the week as announced by the league office earlier Tuesday morning.
Jones backstopped No. 15 Penn State to its first-ever weekend sweep over then-No. 8 Minnesota with 5-1 and 5-2 victories over the weekend at Pegula Ice Arena. The victories also secured the home-ice advantage in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals taking place March 2-4 when the Nittany Lions host those same Golden Gophers in a best-of-three series.
The sophomore stopped 52-of-55 shots over the weekend turning in a .945 save percentage and a 1.51 goals against average in the two games. Overall this season Jones has posted a 15-11-4 record with a 2.90 goals against average and a .906 save percentage while also becoming the all-time wins leader at Penn State.
Jones becomes the fifth Penn State player to earn weekly recognition this season and the first since classmate Nate Sucese earned third star accolades on Jan. 9. Sophomore Denis Smirnov has been honored twice this season while Sucese and classmate Brandon Biro and junior Andrew Sturtz have each been honored once.