Icers break even with Bobcats, wallop WVU

The Penn State men's ice hockey team went on the road this weekend for the first time since the sinister swing through Michigan two weeks ago.

Not wanting to repeat that disaster, it is understandable why the Icers are content with this weekend's results.

The No. 3 Icers (23-5-1, 19-3-1 ACHA) fought their way from behind to garner a 3-3 tie Friday night against No. 4 Ohio University and carried that momentum into a 10-4 drubbing of No. 11 West Virginia Saturday afternoon.

Friday night, Penn State owned a 2-1 lead in the second when Ohio forward Greg Cherne scored two goals in less than two minutes to give the Bobcats a 3-2 advantage.

But Penn State fought back.

"We were moving the puck well," Icer forward Rob Shaner said. "When everybody does their job, the outcome comes out good."

And that's exactly what happened.

With about three minutes left in the game, forward Alon Eizenman dished the puck off to defenseman Jason Zivkovic, who blasted a shot from the point toward Ohio goaltender Brody Danner. The shot was redirected off Shaner's stick and into the Ohio goal to tie the game at 3-3.

"It was a great feeling," Shaner said. "It was one of my biggest goals of the year."

The tie ended Ohio's 18-game winning streak, a streak that started the week after Penn State beat the Bobcats 6-4 at the ice pavilion on Oct. 31.

Icer goalie John Sixt helped keep his team in the game with a 27-save performance.

"He was big," Shaner said. "If they would have scored, the momentum would have changed."

Saturday afternoon's game was no where near as competitive as Friday's, although the Icers were kept off of the board for the first 14 minutes of play.

"It took us a while to get going," Penn State coach Joe Battista said.

But did they ever get going.

Defenseman Brad Hamel opened the scoring with the first goal of his Icer career to ignite the offense to score eight goals in the first two periods en route to the 10-4 spanking.

Icer goalie Anthony Annexy pitched in with 24 saves.

Forward Geoff Adams scored the next three goals after Hamel's to give him a natural hat trick, the second hat trick he has accomplished on West Virginia's home ice in as many years.

"We had some nice goals," Battista said. "We passed the puck real well, and we went to the goal real hard."

Although the Icers won't be returning to State College with two wins, they are still very pleased with their performance and see this as a big step along the road of achieving their ultimate goal -- the ACHA national championship.

"It was a great game," Battista said of Friday night's tie, "the kind I'm sure we'll see at nationals. I'll take a tie in (Ohio's) building this time of year."