In his fifth collegiate start, Penn State men’s hockey goaltender John Seifarth dazzled again.

The Nittany Lions cruised to a 4-1 win against Army, and Jimmy Dowd Jr. set the tone with an early first period goal. They had three goals by the time Army got on the board at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

While everyone contributed to the victory, Seifarth stood out. He had 30 saves and conceded one goal.

“He was great tonight,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said of Seifarth. “And he had to be. We gave up two breakaways in the first period, and if they scored on those, that was going to be a very, very different game. And then he also had to make a few very, very difficult saves later.”

Seifarth was tested early, but not often. The Black Knights had two shots deflect off the goalpost in addition to the breakaways.

What’s inspiring about Seifarth is his story. A former club goaltender, he nearly quit hockey but wound up on the Division I team as a third-stringer. Suddenly, he was thrust into action when incumbent Arsenii Sergeev suffered an injury and understudy Noah Grannan had a rough outing against Michigan.

The Pittsburgh native started against Colgate three days later and made 25 saves. The coaching staff has stuck with him since, which continues to pay off.

Among the reasons for sticking with Seifarth is his personality. The netminder has been praised by Gadowsky and his teammates for his work ethic and attitude off the ice.

“He has a very service orientation like he’s here to serve the team, and that’s what he loves to do, and he wants to do as much as he can for them, in whatever capacity,” Gadowsky said. “You see how hard the guys play for him and how much they’re behind him.”

Seifarth may be making a strong case to keep the starting role when Sergeev returns, which isn’t known at this point. He has a .918 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average. That’s on top of his teammates’ perception of him in the locker room. At the very least, Penn State will have one of the best tandems in the country.

Regardless, Seifarth is thriving. He’s doing what he’s asked and securing wins for the Nittany Lions, which is all Penn State can hope for.

“It’s not just karma why he’s playing so well,” Gadowsky said. “It’s so much positive energy toward him and so much support for him and doing whatever they can for him, because he’s done so much for this entire program.”