On Saturday afternoon the Icer seniors said farewell to the Penn State fans as they played in their last game at the Ice Pavilion. They went out on a high note, defeating North Dakota State, 5-1, in the consolation game of the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championship.

Seniors Mike Messner, Geoff Martha, Andy McLaughlin and Rich Filar skated the final shift of the game with junior Dave Murphy and Andy Dumas played his final home game in goal.

Messner was named to the All-Tournament team and finished with seven points for the week. He also reached a milestone in the consolation game. At 8:04 of the second period, the Icer defenseman assisted on a Brad Russell goal. It catapulted him past Josh Brandwene to become the all-time Icer point leader for a defenseman.

"He went out with all guns blazing," said Coach Joe Battista of Messner's play in the tournament. "He did his job defensively and offensively. He's quite a competitor and he provided us with leadership."

Another senior moved up the charts during the game. With 1:16 to go, McLaughlin scored an empty net goal. It gave him 222 points for his career and tied him for second place on the all-time scoring list with Jim Yablecki.

Messner and McLaughlin are special to Battista.

"They were the first two hockey players I recruited," he said. "I'm going to miss those guys a lot. I'm just so happy the first two guys I recruited are now in the record books."

Dumas saved his best for last. He turned away 35 shots against the offensively explosive and defending national champion Bison.

"He played out of his mind," said Messner. "He's been playing this way all year. He's a great story because he didn't play much last year or early this season. Over the summer he worked really hard and it showed."

The seniors finished with several All-Tournament selections. Beside Messner's first team selection, Dumas and Martha received honorable mention honors. Martha has played his best hockey of late and he continued his fine play in the tournament.

The seniors will make their last stop at the International Collegiate Hockey League on Mar. 14 in Buffalo. They hope to go out with a league championship.

"We're looking forward to the ICHL tournament now, and this win was what we needed to get back on track," Dumas said.