Season Opener to be Played as Scheduled

Story posted October 3, 2013 in CommRadio, Sports by Ross Insana

On Tuesday morning, the United States Department of Defense announced that all intercollegiate athletics at its three service academies would be suspended until otherwise noted while the Federal Government shutdown dispute remains in effect. With the shutdown now in its third day, there was a reason for concern about not only the athletic events within the service academies, but also the start of the Penn State Men’s Hockey regular season.

Around 1:40 PM today the Army athletic department confirmed in a press release that the Department of Defense has decided that “all previous contests not cancelled will compete as scheduled.”

As a result of that decision, the Black Knights of the United States Military Academy will travel to Penn State next week to open the new Pegula Ice Arena on October 11. It will be the first game of the 2013-14 season for both teams. Last season Penn State defeated Army 5-0 at West Point on October 26.

After the home opener, the Nittany Lions will go on the road and face another United States service academy program in Air Force. The following week they will travel to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado for games on October 18 and 19. Penn State split a two-game home series with the Falcons at Greenberg Ice Pavillion last season losing 5-1 on November 9, followed by a 5-1 victory the next night.

The Navy and Air Force football game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland will be played as scheduled this Saturday, in addition to the Army and Boston College game.