The new Penn State ice hockey team received rave reviews from Penn Staters over the holiday break as more than 20,000 fans attended the inaugural Three Rivers Classic, Dec. 28 and 29, in Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center. And Penn State New Kensington played an active role in igniting the local alumni base.

The Nittany Lions, in their first year of NCAA-Division I play, took third-place in the four-team tournament, falling to eventual champion Robert Morris University, 6-0, in the opener and defeating Big Ten rival Ohio State, 5-4, in the consolation game.

Patrick and Mardelle Kopnicky, co-chairs of the campus' For the Future campaign, organized alumni socials for both days of the tournament. The socials were co-sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association and the Nittany Lion Club.