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Butler grad Matt Vensel will be the goaltender when the Penn State in-line hockey team plays in next week's national tournament.

Eagle Sports Editor

Matt Vensel was the first goaltender on Butler's first developmental hockey team.

A 2000 Butler graduate, he's still on skates - in-line hockey skates to be exact - and he's trying to lead Penn State University to a national championship.

Vensel is a junior at Penn State and in his second year as a goalie with the Nittany Lions. Ranked No. 9 in the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, Penn State will compete in the 24-team national championship tournament in Anaheim, Calif., which starts next Wednesday and runs through April 18.

"I played a lot of pick-up games on playgrounds when I was in high school," Vensel said of in-line hockey. "I never knew it was so organized and extensive until I got to college."

Vensel said he got into ice hockey "on the ground floor" with Butler's first developmental team as a freshman. He played for the junior varsity as a sophomore and junior.

He was one of three senior goalies on a Golden Tornado varsity team that lost 19 of 23 games.

"Before my freshman year in high school, I had never played hockey," Vensel said. "I thought I came along pretty well.

"My freshman year in college, I played a ridiculous amount of games. I've always been a goalie and I improved through playing all those games," he added.

Between intramural ice hockey and in-line leagues, Vensel played for five or six teams his first year in college. A friend was playing for the Nittany Lions' in-line team.

"He talked me into trying out and I made it," Vensel said.

Just making the Nittany Lions' A-team was hard enough. Nearly 40 players tried out for the squad this year and only 11 - nine skaters and two goalies - comprise the team.

Seeing limited action last year, Vensel was 5-2-2 with a 3.60 goals against average. Penn State reached the national tournament a year ago and made the final round of 16 before being eliminated.

The 24 teams are divided into pools at nationals. The top two teams from each pool advance to a single-elimination 16-team final round.

Vensel had been splitting time in goal with senior Neel Bahtla this season before Bahtla suffered a herniated disc and pinched nerve in his back.

Vensel has played the last six games and has a 7-2-3 record, 2.70 goals against average and an 85.8 save percentage this year.

"Most teams don't have one good goalie," Penn State coach Kevin Murphy said. "We have two. Matt is a very good goalie. He faces a handful of 2-on-1 breaks and two or three breakaways a game.

"We can be defensively challenged at times. I'm trying to change that," the coach added.

Vensel estimates facing between 20 and 30 shots per game.

"Roller hockey has a lot more scoring, it's four-on-four, much more fast-paced than ice hockey," he said. "There's no icing or off-sides.

"Scores can be something like 13-10, so I'm happy with my goals-against. It's solid," he added.

There are more than 60 Division I in-line teams in the NCRHA. Counting Division II and III squads, there are close to 200.

Penn State will play California State-San Bernardino, Missouri and Western Michigan in pool play.

"We're a pretty strong favorite out of that group," Vensel said.

Murphy went one better.

"I think we're the most talented team in the nation," he said. "We have the two best forwards in the nation, the best defenseman and two great goalies.

"It comes down to discipline for us. When Penn State comes to the rink to play, nobody in the country can touch us."

The Nittany Lions defeated second-ranked Central Florida, 5-2, at the NARCH Winternationals in Las Vegas this season. The top 16 teams in the nation at mid-season are invited to play in that tournament.

Vensel was named Most Valuable Goaltender in that event. He ranks seventh in the nation in goals against average and 10th in save percentage.

"With Neel gone next season, Matt will be our definite No. 1 goaltender," Murphy said. "Both of those guys are so good, I had to play them both this year."

Penn State has had an in-line team for six years. Vensel said the team hopes to become a varsity sport within five years.

The school does provide funding for the squad to compete in the national championships.