Penn State men’s hockey landed a verbal commitment from 17-year old forward Ben Schoen on Wednesday evening.

Schoen, who checks in at 5’7″ and 146 pounds and hails from Maumee, Ohio, is entering his second season with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. He scored six goals and added 22 assists in 55 games played in 2018-19 after a successful tenure with the Detroit Little Caesars U15 AAA program.

Penn State’s newest commit also represented his country at the 2019 Gretzky-Hlinka Cup, which pitted the United States’ U-18 selects squad against Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, among others. Schoen scored a goal and added two assists in four games played during the tournament.

Miami (OH) initially earned Schoen’s college commitment prior to the start of his USHL career. The right-shot forward was initially set to join the Redhawks in 2020-21, and it’s currently unclear when exactly he’ll start his college career with Penn State.

Guy Gadowsky’s recruiting class of 2019 currently features eight players who have signed their letters of intent. Four incoming freshmen signed on with Penn State in November 2018, and the team officially added another group of four players that includes Carolina Hurricanes draft pick Kevin Wall and Northeastern University transfer Bobby Hampton.

The Nittany Lions’ 2019-20 regular season will begin in 51 days. Sacred Heart will travel to Pegula Ice Arena for a season-opening series that will get started on October 11.