Icers checked from lofty perch

Ever since Dec.15 when the Icers earned the No. 1 ranking in the ACHA polls, the public address announcer at the ice pavilion has introduced the team as "Your No. 1-ranked Nittany Lion Icers." But after this past weekend, that introduction may need a little change.

On one of the most important road trips of the season, the Icers (20-5, 16-3 ACHA) were swept this past weekend, falling to No. 3 Michigan-Dearborn 1-0 on Friday night and No. 4 Eastern Michigan 7-3 the next afternoon.

"We don't deserve to be No. 1, not after (Saturday's) game," forward Brent Brower said.

On Friday night, Icers goalie John Sixt stopped 33 of 34 shots, one of the lone bright spots of the weekend. The only shot that got past him was a goal by Michigan-Dearborn's Troy Taylor with less than three minutes left in the contest.

"It was probably John Sixt's best performance of the season," said coach Joe Battista.

Penn State did have several good opportunities to put a goal on the board in the final period, but neither three whacks at a loose puck on a late third period power play, nor a Mike Pietrangelo blast with under two minutes to play, proved fruitful.

"We had sufficient chances to score," Battista said. "We just couldn't finish them."

The Icers had four breakaway opportunities during the contest, but none turned into goals.

"If we scored on any one of those four breakaways, we would have won," Battista said.

The next afternoon, the Icers traveled to Eastern Michigan and fell behind 2-1 after the first 20 minutes of play. A comeback was quickly thwarted when the Icers committed an early second-period penalty and gave up a quick power play goal. The score quickly moved to 5-1, ending any chance for a Penn State win.

"It was our worst performance of the year," Battista said. "I was disappointed in our lack of mental toughness. It was a very chippy, physical game, but we let them get under our skin."

Absent from this weekend's games was the dominant Penn State power play, which going into the weekend was operating at around 45 percent efficiency. The man advantage only yielded one goal in 17 chances on Friday and Saturday.

"I think teams are getting used to us," Brower said. "We surprised them in the beginning, but now they are used to us."

Along with losing two games, Penn State also lost two more players due to injuries. Forward Alon Eizenman injured his wrist during the second period on Friday's game. He is out on a day-to-day basis. Saturday's starting goaltender Anthony Annexy injured his shoulder after allowing the third Eastern Michigan goal, the same shoulder that has been bothering him all season.

Although the loss of two straight conference games is a letdown, the Icers aren't going to be pressing the panic button any time soon.

"We should have won the Friday night game," Battista said. "It's a temporary setback. There's no need for us to panic. We have no time to sit back and lick our wounds. We have to get ready and play again."