Vacation's over
Ice Lions hit road to end rough month layoff

By MICHAEL YODER
Collegian Staff Writer

In a season of big games, this weekend may prove to be the biggest hurdle for the Penn State Ice Lions to overcome. Coming off a month without facing any opponents, the Ice Lions (8-3-2) will go up against Hofstra and Central Connecticut State on the road.

Tonight, the Ice Lions will take on a struggling Hofstra team that has suffered many problems this season, including a recent coaching change.

"Hofstra has had some real problems this year," Penn State coach Mo Stromel said. "They're not playing real well, but we're still not going to take them lightly."

Tomorrow the team will face Central Connecticut State, which may prove to be a more formidable opponent. Earlier this year, Central Connecticut defeated Hofstra 15-3. Currently, Central Connecticut is No. 3 in its division and is playing extremely well.

On top of that, the Ice Lions will be facing them for the first time ever.

"Central Connecticut is one of the biggest tests of the semester for us," Ice Lions' captain Dan Horowitz said. "Central Connecticut is a pretty good team. We got to see them play at nationals last year, but we never played them."

During the semester break, the Ice Lions suffered some setbacks, including the loss of three key players -- Alex Luboff, Ryan Touchton and Chris Collins. Due to various reasons, all three players will be out for the rest of the season.

Even though Penn State did not compete as a complete team over break, most of the players stayed in top form by working out in gyms or competing with high school teams at home. The players seem rested, strong and ready to come back to make the rest of the season a success.

"Everyone stayed in shape over break," Horowitz said. "This week we made a firm commitment as a team to play together and make it back to nationals this year."

Currently, the Ice Lions are No. 4 in their division and are poised to go back to nationals again this year. But for the team to get a chance to go to nationals it may have to be nearly perfect the rest of the season. One loss could drive the Ice Lions out of the final playoff position, adding extra importance to perform well this weekend.

"Our backs are up against the wall right now," assistant captain Doug Qualey said. "We can't lose any more games this season. We have to be disciplined and play our positions. As long as we play together as a team, we can win."