Icers to square off in Great Lakes state

By CARLA MOTKO
Collegian Staff Writer

Despite recent attempts, the No. 1 Penn State men's ice hockey team just isn't offensively minded.

The Icers (19-2) have proven themselves a good scoring team, but, according to forward Todd Dakan, that was only due to the efforts of the defense.

"Our defense is what won us the national championship last year," he said. "Sure we scored like 20 goals, but we only gave up about four. We lost because we got away from our usual defense."

The usual Icers' defense is more the stay-at-home type, but in recent games it has turned away from that in favor of one that pushes the puck up the ice.

In light of Penn State's recent upset loss to No. 2 Iowa State, however, it is not likely the Icers will stick with the new defensive look for their games this weekend. According to defenseman Buff Shuttleworth, the defense will be back to its usual self when the team travels to Michigan to take on No. 3 Michigan Dearborn (20-6) at 7:30 p.m. today and No. 10 Eastern Michigan (13-13-1) at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.

The new look of the Icers' defense started in mid-January when Penn State took on No. 11 West Virginia. Penn State would have played two defensemen up ice, but because the Mountaineers played one wingman at the Penn State blue line at all times, an Icers defenseman had to hang back.

West Virginia's strategy often worked to Penn State's advantage as the defender broke up several breakaways. Still, for a team that only gives up over two goals a game on average, it was upsetting to Penn State coach Joe Battista to see his team give up five goals in two games.

When the Icers faced off against Erie College last Friday, the offense had trouble scoring, so the defense pushed the puck toward the net to create opportunities. What it created, however, was several breakaways for the Kats. After the game, Battista sighed with relief as his team crept away with a 3-1 win.

The Icers weren't as lucky against No. 2 Iowa State last Saturday. Again the Icers' defense carried the puck up ice to try to spark the offense which, again, led to breakaways for the Cyclones. According to Shuttleworth, the aggression of the defense is ultimately what led to the 5-3 loss.

"I think teams have been able to score on us recently because our guys are trying to get into the play," Shuttleworth said. "We were too worried about scoring goals and we ignored our defensive responsibilities."

Michigan Dearborn coach Joe Aho was hoping the Icers would pull out a win against Iowa State. The Wolves dished Penn State its first loss of the season, and Aho feels the Icers are more dangerous now after coming off their second loss.

"We wanted to catch them after a win and hope they were on too much of a high," Aho said. "A loss brings a team back to reality and usually makes them hungrier for that next win."

In order to retain their No. 1 ranking, the Icers have to come up with big wins this weekend, and the team believes it has just the formula to do so. According to Shuttleworth, the loss to Iowa State pointed out that the team needed to go back to the defense that has brought it so much success.

"This week in practice we went back and focused on some of our defensive drills," the defenseman said. "We're really not as strong offensively as we are defensively. We definitely have to recommit ourselves to team defense."