Ivy Leaguers star in Penguins' 3-on-3 taken in Cranberry, Pa. (Penguins)

Team Murray celebrates its win Friday night. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- No one knows for sure how this hockey thing will pan out for Lewis Zerter-Gossage or Jeff Malott. But if it doesn't, well, they've got some options.

They were just two of the 38 players attending this week's development camp at the Lemieux Sports Complex. Neither player is a Penguins draft pick or in the system and, like many of the others here on tryouts, they will soon return home and begin training for the fall.

When they do, they'll have quite a tale to tell.

Zerter-Gossage and Malott were two of the bigger stars in Team Murray's 7-4 victory over Team Dumoulin in the 3-on-3 tournament championship Friday night to cap the three-day camp. It wasn't just a victory for Penguins development coach Scott Young, who led the winning squad, it was a good night for the ECAC, home of the Ivy League.

Zerter-Gossage is a Harvard man. He scored three goals in the final. Malott is attending Cornell, and he had perhaps the prettiest goal of the night. It was pretty impressive stuff for two players who don't even play 3-on-3 in overtime in the NCAA.

Lewis Zerter-Gossage. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

The latter is two semesters shy of his economics degree at the Cambridge, Mass. institution and might be the only prospect in attendance this week who did not want to come out of this weekend with an NHL contract.

"We understand that and respect that," Young said through a wide smile. "We'll let him go back to school and probably talk to him after that."

What does Zerter-Gossage plan to do with that degree?

"Play hockey, hopefully," the Montreal native says.

Zerter-Gossage enters his final season with the Crimson after scoring 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 32 games last season. Playing in the sizable shadow of Ryan Donato, who made his NHL debut with the Bruins at the end of last season, Zerter-Gossage is as polished on the ice as off.

"His all-around character, personality, conditioning, he looks like a pro, acts like a pro," Young said. "He's got the body. He's 6-2, has got good hands. I think he's a prototypical professional winger."

Whether he becomes that remains to be seen. He has not only another season at Harvard but he still has some elective courses he's required to take. In the spring those courses included, of all things, Egyptian History. It can be difficult to balance academics and athletics, he says, but the discipline it instills can translate to the rink.

Obviously, this week was to learn how to be a pro and get a small a taste of the next level, but it's also about opening some eyes. As he was telling me, his goal was to leave a good impression:

 

"Any experience I can gain is really valuable, especially from an organization like this, handful of Cups and guys you can learn from," he said. "I've been trying to take it in all week. They've been very welcoming for guys like me who aren't in their program, but can still really take a lot out of what they have to say.

"I'm most thankful for the opportunity."

Malott, an applied economics major at Cornell, effectively sealed Team Murray's victory with a brilliant individual effort, one of the few goals scored in the tournament that wasn't a breakaway or 2-on-1.

With under four minutes remaining, Malott played coy, acting as if he was exhausted and then turned on the jets and beat the defender with some slick stick-handling before deking Team Dumoulin goalie Tristan Cote-Cazenave.

That's OK, this was not an event and a format designed for much defense or goaltending.

"Aside from the 3-on-3, it was just an incredible learning experience," said Malott, who wasn't even sure how many goals he ended up scoring. "Every practice they put us through, or workout, or warmup, it was kind of information-based or focused on delivering as much information to us as possible. I learned a lot here. They did a good job with the time they had."

Malott, a left-shooting right wing was centered last season at Cornell by Anthony Angello, the Penguins' 2014 fifth-round pick. Angello was signed to an entry-level contract in April.

"Tough kid, good speed, pretty good hands for the size and strength he brings," was Young's assessment of Malott. "I think he's just that type of guy that will go through the endboards for you. Good team guy and high-character kid, too."

Team Murray came together quickly on the ice, according to Malott, because they and the other three teams -- all named after current Penguins Cup winners who had attended previous camps -- were the same teams used during Tuesday's team-bonding drill: Axe throwing.

The winning team included, among others Justin Almeida, this year's fifth-round pick, who scored one goal, Tobias Lindberg, who played a half-dozen games for the Maple Leafs in 2015-16, and Casey Dornbach, who will attend Harvard in the fall with Zerter-Gossage.

Given their age and size, the college players were at an advantage over the younger junior players but it was a most impressive showing for the Ivy Leaguers.

"It's a hard-working league and a league that focuses a lot on details," Malott told me. "As fun at it is, it's 3-on-3, but the little things paid off."

Zachary Lauzon, the Penguins' top pick last year and 51st overall in the second round, did not attend this year's camp. Young said that the defenseman has some "minor aches" and it was decided to keep him home. He's expected to be fine for the start of the season. Lauzon had four assists in 25 games for Rouyn-Noranda.

Kasper Bjorkvist, Pittsburgh's second rounder in 2016, was in attendance but did not play. He has not been cleared for contact but went through the full strength and conditioning test, according to Young.

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