UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State men's hockey junior goaltender Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) was named the third star of the week by the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday (Oct. 14) morning.
Skoff put together crucial performances that allowed Penn State to achieve its best opening weekend in the Division I era. Skoff stopped 94.7 percent of the shots he saw and posted a GAA of 1.44 as the Nittany Lions went 1-0-1 against UConn.
Skoff stopped 26 shots on opening night (Oct. 10) to earn the tie. On Saturday, he was even better, saving 28 shots, 14 of which game in a furious first period that saw UConn on a 5-on-3 for 1:20, which led into the final three minutes of a five-minute major. Skoff saved 10 shots during that 6:20 of UConn power-play and the Nittany Lions rolled to victory.
The weekly honor is the second of Skoff's career, who picked up the second star of the week Feb. 11, 2014 following a 4-0 shutout of Michigan. Minnesota sophomore forward Hudson Fasching and senior forward Tanner Fritz were named first and second stars, respectively.
NEXT TIME OUTPenn State travels to Fairbanks, Alaska for the Brice Goal Rush beginning Friday, Oct. 17 vs. Alaska Anchorage (9:07 p.m. ET). The game will be a homecoming of sorts for Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska), while Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) will face his former team. PSU wraps up the weekend against the Alaska Nanooks, where head coach Guy Gadowsky previously coached, on Saturday, Oct. 18 (11:07 p.m. ET).