Former New Jersey Rocket Alec Marsh wraps up Penn State career

Alec Marsh won a Big Ten Conference championship as a Penn State sophomore. (Getty Images)

Alec Marsh soon will be an alumnus for the Penn State University hockey program. The senior left wing was due to complete his college career in the next several weeks, and then graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in criminology.

“It’s bittersweet, and it’s also made me a little hungry every night,” the Bridgewater, N.J., native admitted in late January, following Penn State’s Big Ten Conference split with Michigan. “You never know when your last game will be, and it gives you more incentive to work harder and make every second count.” 

The Nittany Lions have played in two NHL arenas so far this season, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Dec. 15, and Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Jan. 26. Marsh, 23, scored the fourth goal in a 4-4 deadlock with Princeton in Pennsylvania, and the game-winner in a 5-2 win over host Michigan at MSG. Both times, he skated in front of almost two dozen family members, and nearly 10,000 spectators in all.

“It was cool,” said the undrafted Marsh, who now has played twice at both venues in his college career. “You have a little more jump in your game. It’s an unbelievable environment. I thought we were the home team against Michigan, with so many Penn State people there.”