This year's version of the ice hockey club produced a series of highs, interrupted with an occasional shock to bring the team back to earth.

After beginning the season with an 11-1-1 run and recapturing the Nittany Lion Invitational title, the Icers suffered a four-game losing streak.

The Icers more than made up for that low, however, when they skated into Athens, Ohio, and performed their own version of "Miracle on Ice."

"Before we went to nationals, we had some tough times on the road," co-captain John Ioia said, "and I knew from the moment I talked to Coach we weren't so sure how we were going to do when we were going to go away.

"His line to the team was, 'Let's just end up in the final four,' when I knew that he was just hoping to stay close, as most of us were. And then we went off to nationals, but before we did, I think we had a coming together."

Ranked No. 6 in the National Invitation Tournament, the team shocked No. 2 Ohio University and then finished off Iowa State to become National Club Champion. It's the stuff Hollywood was built on.

If Sylvester Stallone wrote the script for most of the Icers season, though, he forgot to get around to the ending. Their NIT "miracle" sapped too much energy and the team finished No. 3 in the ICHL, just two wins short of repeating as champion.

"We thought we had a good chance," forward Chris Cervellero said. "We were tired, and we knew we had to work hard after playing eight games in 16 days."

Co-captain Davis Mulholland believed the Icers owed their success to the team's depth.

"We had six top scorers throughout the season -- we didn't have one individual leader the whole year," Mulholland said. "We had a good defense, and in goaltending, there were three strong goalies that could play at anytime."

"There was no big difference between the best guys and the not-so-good guys," Cervellero added. "Everyone played at the same level."

Indeed, after point-leader Mike Cardonick (68) and second-place Andy McLaughlin (59), there were six Icers who were in the 40-to-50-point range. The team also had six players who scored at least 19 goals on the year and six players with a plus/minus rating of 25 or higher.

In the net, the team could count on any one of its three goalies -- Eric Zinczenko with a 87 percent save percentage, Chris Puscian at 86 percent, or NIT Most Valuable Player John Gray at 94 percent.

"This has to be the best team I've been on in the five years I've been in this program," Mulholland said. "It's been an honor to captain of this team. I didn't expect it to end on such a high note. I'm glad that it did, that goes without saying . . . I'm very pleased to be going out this way."

Notes: At their end-of-the-year banquet held Saturday, the Icers said Auf Wiedersehen to seniors Davis Mulholland (architectural engineering), Mike Cardonick (economics), John O'Connor (business management) and Chris Puscian (arts and architecture). The four were presented with their jerseys as "retirement" gifts . . . the Icers currently have a combined average GPA above 2.8.