Icer Cliff Graziano skated in front of the net and waited for the Erie Community College goaltender to make his move. Erie's Scott Wisniewski flopped to the ice. Graziano slid the puck right inside the post.

With his third goal of the weekend, Graziano won the game -- and the Nittany Lion Invitational Tournament -- for the Icers on Saturday. With a 3-2 victory over the Erie Kats (11-8), the American Collegiate Hockey Association's No. 1 Icers (16-3-1) broke a puzzling tournament streak.

In past years, the Icers have followed two consecutive Invitational wins with a loss. This is the first time in the tournament's history that the Icers have won three times in a row.

"This was a sweet win," Icer Coach Joe Battista said. "We finally broke the curse."

The Icers advanced to the final game after a 10-1 romp over Rhode Island on Friday. After Saturday's game, the Icer seniors heavily doused Battista with champagne in the locker room.

But the mood during the game was anything but celebratory, as the Icers were given a tough battle by Erie.

The Kats fought back twice after the Icers opened up two-goal leads to make the game closer. Erie pulled its goalie in the last few minutes of the game, but was unable to tie the contest.

As a junior college, Erie has no national tournament to contend for, so the Invitational meant a lot to the Kats, being their only tournament, Graziano said. He added that Erie played tougher this weekend then they did at Erie on Jan. 6. The Icers won that battle 5-0.

"They wanted it more because they don't have a championship to play in," Graziano said. "That was their added incentive."

Icer goalie Jeff Crispino returned to his old ways with the win Saturday. He captivated the crowd with several saves, including one where he flung out his foot to block a shot.

Wisniewski, named to the all-tournament team, also had an outstanding weekend, recording a 2.00 goals-against average.

"I thought both goalies played exceptional," Erie Coach Ralph Galanti said. "They kept both teams in the game."

Freshman forward Mike Pietrangelo continued his torrid scoring pace, scoring a hat trick in both games. He was also named to the all-tournament team, as was sophomore defenseman Eddie Kmit and Graziano. Sophomore forward Rich Martha was named the tournament's most valuable player.

In Friday's game, it was Michigan-Dearborn revisted. Against Dearborn last semester, Dearborn Coach Joe Aho threw water bottles onto the ice, resulting in a game misconduct. Friday against the Icers, Rhode Island Coach Joe Augustine threw a water bottle onto the ice, receiving the same punishment.

"I thought the referees were thirsty," he said.

Notes:

-- Rhode Island beat Towson State 6-2 in the consolation game.

-- Also named to the all-tournament team from Erie were defenseman Terry Miller and Bryan Young.