STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — For Xander Lampa, it's time to move on.
The Rochester native hadn't been part of the same hockey program in four years, dating back to his days with the Rochester Youth Hockey Association. So after spending his four seasons at Penn State, Lampa decided to take the next step in his hockey career.
Lampa's college career came to an end on Wednesday, just four days after Penn State ended its season with a loss to the University of Minnesota. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound left-handed forward signed with the Maine Mariners, an affiliate of the ECHL's Boston Bruins. He will play his fifth year of college hockey at Penn State or elsewhere, an NCAA grant granted to athletes in all sports who were on a college's roster during the coronavirus-impacted 2020-21 season. This option will be avoided.
Lampa, who served as Penn State's acting captain this season, had three goals and 13 assists for 16 points as a senior. During his four-year career with the Nittany Lions, Lampa scored 12 goals and added 33 assists for 45 points. He set his single-season career high last season as a junior with six goals and 19 points.
The Nittany Lions have a 15-18-3 record this season.
A year ago, they were 22-16-1 and one goal away from advancing to the program's first Frozen 4. Penn State defeated Michigan Tech 8-0 in the regional semifinals, but lost to Michigan 2-1 in OT in the regional final.
Lampa excelled at John Marshall High School from 2015-17, helping the Rockets win 20 games and win the Big Nine Conference championship as a sophomore from 2015-16. That season, he scored 14 goals and 35 points. The Rockets lost 15 seniors from that team, but still went 10-14-1 the following year, with Lampa leading the way with 19 goals and 47 points.
He spent his senior season in Austin and played his first season of junior hockey with the Austin Bruins, scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 46 games. He then played two seasons with the USHL's Waterloo Blackhawks, totaling 22 goals and 73 points in 111 games.
Lampa was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree in each of the past two seasons.
His father, Brent, played four years of college hockey at Notre Dame, and Xander's younger brother, Isaac, was a senior on the 2015-16 John Marshall Big Nine title team.
Xander Lampa joins a familiar face in Maine. Michael Keeley, former Austin Bruins director of broadcast and media, has held the same position with the Mariners since the 2018-19 season.
