Before the puck was dropped starting the American Collegiate Hockey League title game, Erik Lightner and Mark Cervellero stood close together near the Penn State goal.

The two seniors reminisced. The Icers looked ahead.

Lightner and Cervellero, along with six other seniors, were honored prior to Saturday's clash with the Blue Hens. As the crew skated toward center ice, the Penn State supporters cheered.

These seniors were about to compete in their final home game.

"We just wanted to go out with hopefully one of the better games in our career, and we definitely wanted to win the championship," Lightner said. "It was like, 'We came this far together, so let's finish it out.' "

Lightner and Cervellero did finish it out as the Icers beat Delaware, 6-3. The end had come. Their careers inside the Ice Pavilion were over.

"I'm gonna miss it," Cervellero said. "I won't realize it for another month or whenever I'm done. It's been exciting playing in front of 1,500 people."

Coach Joe Battista remembers that excitement. He recalled the last time he competed as an Icer at Penn State.

"They're choked up a bit," Battista said. "It's tough to walk away. They won't admit it -- I guarantee you that. When you're here, you sometimes just take it for granted, and you miss it more than you thought you were gonna."

The 1993-94 seniors totaled 105 career victories while at Penn State. These upperclassmen won two consecutive ACHL championships.

But there is one crown that has eluded the seniors.

"There would be nothing sweeter than winning a national tournament," Cervellero said. "Then everything else won't matter. It will make my career if we win the national championship."

It would make it complete.