After Penn State men’s hockey only named one alternate captain alongside captain Dane Dowiak before the season, it has been openly wondered if head coach Guy Gadowsky would name any new faces to the leadership group over the course of the season.

With the team in the midst of a 42-day break from action, Gadowsky decided to add a letter to the chests of two veteran skaters, as on Friday, forwards Ben Schoen and Reese Laubach were named as alternate captains for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, joining Jarod Crespo as the team’s alternate captains.

Schoen, a redshirt senior from Maumee, Ohio, has been a source of inspiration for the team all season after he recovered from what could’ve been a career-ending injury in January 2023 when he shattered his ankle in a game against Michigan to return for the 2023-24 season. Playing a different type of role than he had in his first three collegiate seasons, Schoen has two goals and three assists in 16 games, with both goals coming against Clarkson on October 10.

Laubach, a junior from San Jose, California, was drafted in the seventh round by the San Jose Sharks in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and scored 25 total goals across his first two seasons in State College. Through 18 games, he has scored four goals and recorded six assists while playing a demanding role, shifting between center and wing and pairing with various line combinations.

Penn State men’s hockey returns to the ice after several of its players played in international tournaments on the road against RIT at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 3, in the first leg of a home-and-home.