Going into this weekend, the ice hockey team was expecting two victories over ranked opponents in front of its home crowd. What it got was a lesson in humility.

The Icers (15-5-1), ranked third in the American Collegiate Hockey Association national rankings, finished last in their own tournament, the Nittany Lion Invitational. The past two years, the Icers won the tournament. But on Friday night against No. 5 Ohio University, the team blew a 3-1 lead on its way to a 5-4 overtime loss.

The Icers, 0-2-1 in overtime games this season, lost for the first time in the opening round of its tournament. Then, in Saturday's consolation game against No. 6 Eastern Michigan, the Icers blew a 4-2 lead en route to a 7-5 loss.

It took Ohio only 12 seconds to score in overtime. John Ritchey got credit for the goal, but give an assist to the Icer defense.

"It certainly wasn't a pretty goal," Ohio Coach Robb Wade said. "We got a lucky break. It was bouncing around and it ended up bouncing into the net. We got a good bounce."

Four of the five Bobcat goals were directly linked to Icer turnovers.

"Turnovers killed us," Coach Joe Battista said. "I thought we played better, but their goaltender was the great equalizer. We had the chance to put them away, and we didn't do it."

Ohio drew first blood, scoring a short-handed goal at 9:08 of the first period. Andy McLaughlin, attempting to set up a play from behind his own net, put a perfect pass on Dennis Kazmerczak's stick. Kazmerczak beat Icer goalie Andy Dumas in the left corner. The Icers experienced something completely different in their home building -- a first-period deficit.

But they came roaring back in the second with two goals by Brad Russell and one by McLaughlin.

The Icers couldn't hold on to the lead and the Bobcats scored three unanswered goals to go ahead, 4-3, with 4:29 remaining to play. Ross Cowan, back after a two-week layoff, scored the tying goal with 1:40 to go.

"This was certainly a test for us to see if we could skate with teams of higher quality," Wade said.

The Icers outshot Ohio 48-20, but they also gave up the puck in their own end more than Ohio. In this game, that made the difference.

"We need to grow up a little bit, I think," defenseman Mike Messner said. "We just seemed to give the puck away. We outplayed them, we outhustled them, we outshot them, we're a better team than them, I think. The bounces weren't there tonight."

The Icers also outshot Eastern Michigan, 40-22. The Icers' play resembled the crowd -- uninspired and apathetic.

The Eagles, which lost to eventual champion Rhode Island 4-3 in the first round, opened the scoring on a goal by Jeff Dunn. The Icers tied the game on a goal by Mark Cervellero at 14:56.

Just over a minute into the second period, Eastern Michigan reclaimed the lead on a disputed goal by Brett Williams. With Icer goalie John Gray out of the play -- he was knocked down in what Icer coaches thought should have been called interference -- the puck eluded Scott Mangene's stick and went into the net.

"We got this on film," Assistant Coach Ray Lombra yelled to the referees on the ice. Still, the goal stood.

McLaughlin reached the 200-point plateau when he scored a power-play goal in the second period. The Icers stretched their lead to 4-2 with two Cowan goals in 11 seconds.

Cowan, who scored three goals in the tournament, was the sole Icer on the All-Tournament team.

And then the letdown occurred. The Eagles evened the score at four. In the third period, Eastern Michigan scored twice to seal the victory.

"They knew they had a national bid on the line," Battista said. "I expected them to play a great hockey game. They made the big plays. We didn't."

The Icers could face both teams again in the ACHA National Championship, which will be held at Penn State, Feb. 26-29. The ACHA extended invitations yesterday to Penn State, Michigan-Dearborn, North Dakota State, Iowa State, Ohio University, Arizona, Eastern Michigan and Navy.