Icers go winless in two games as freefall continues

By CARLA MOTKO
Collegian Staff Writer

Forward Alon Eizenman can look at the two games the No. 1 Penn State men's ice hockey team played this weekend and take away several positives.

First, the sophomore said the team can assess where its weaknesses are. Because of this, he said the team can better prepare itself for nationals. In addition to finding the Icers' weaknesses, Eizenman said the team can also find other team's weaknesses.

Of course, he added that no matter how many positives he stacks up from the weekend's road trip, they won't add up to victories.

After coming off a rough loss to No. 2 Iowa State last weekend, the Icers (19-3-1) continued on their downward spiral in two road games against Michigan-Dearborn (22-6) and Eastern Michigan (14-13-2). They lost to the Wolves 4-2 Friday and tied the Eagles 4-4 Saturday.

"We were starting to feel the pressure of being on top," Eizenman said. "We didn't have one of our best outings, and when you're in a slump, teams pick up on that."

Before the game, Michigan-Dearborn coach Joe Aho was worried that Penn State would be dangerous coming off a loss, but his fears were put to rest after the first period ended in a 1-1 tie.

Penn State coach Joe Battista said forward C.J. Patrick shouldn't have played this weekend due to ankle and knee injuries. But it was good for the Icers that he did as he scored early in the second period to make the score 2-1. However, the Wolves tied the game within minutes.

Penn State's defense had played well through the first period, but the woes that have plagued the Icers' defense for several weeks poked through. Defenseman Don Coyne tried to upend one of the Wolves, but ended up taking his own man out of the play. As a result, Michigan-Dearborn scored to make the score 3-2. Scoring ended when the Wolves scored an empty net goal with less than one second left to play.

For the first period of Saturday's game, Penn State wasn't doing any better with opportunities as the Icers found themselves down 2-0 midway through the first period.

"We like to be the underdogs," Eizenman said. "Once we're no longer expected to win, we stopped worrying about blowing the game."

Defenseman Ryan Wick finally opened up scoring against Eastern Michigan, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Eagles.

After Eastern Michigan scored late in the first, forward Rich Podulka brought the Icers back to within one. Coyne then tied the game with a power-play goal midway through the third. The two teams traded goals later in the period, skated to a scoreless overtime, then had to settle for a 4-4 tie.

"I was very pleased that we actually rose to the occasion after the game against Dearborn," Battista said. "It would have been nice to win those games, but one point is better than nothing."