Coming off a season opening 11-2 trouncing of in-state rival Villanova, you'd think the Penn State Icers would find themselves with few things to worry about going into tonight's home opener with No. 17 Mercyhurst.
The puck drops at 9.
But the defending ACHA national champions say there are several parts of their game they must work on. Head coach Joe Battista knows the team must improve on these areas soon.
"They're (Villanova) certainly one of the weaker teams on the schedule and over the next couple of weeks, we're going to have to kick it up another gear," Battista said.
And he is serious. Four of the Icers next five foes are ranked in the top 10. The fifth, Kent, is ranked No. 11.
"There's not much we don't have to still assess right now. We have a lot of work to do on our power play, penalty kill and forechecking," he said.
But Battista said his club's work ethic is helping them get through these problems.
"We really haven't had much of an opportunity to establish a lot of those things, so right now we're relying on the guys working hard," he said.
Senior forward Alon Eizenman said the team is playing well as individuals but needs to work more on coming together as a team.
"We need to have more cohesiveness," Eizenman said. "We need to work on team play in general."
Fellow senior forward Greg Held said there are other areas that need work as well.
"We have to work on our D-zone coverage and our neutral ice play," he said. "We just have to stay positive and keep working hard."
Battista still plans to use all three of his goalies — Geoff Beauparlant, Scott Graham and Yan Clermont — until one of them establishes himself as the No. 1 guy.
"More than anything, I'm looking for consistency," he said. "They all show flashes of brilliance, but we need somebody who comes and plays hard consistently."
Injuries and illnesses are also issues the Icers must confront.
Forward Joe McArdle injured his knee in yesterday's practice. Battista said he will definitely miss this weekend's game, and could miss up to four weeks.
Battista said sophomore defenseman Ryan Patrick will be out for at least a week with a hip problem. Sophomore forward Paul Sealock is nursing a bad bruise and may not be available for this weekend. Freshman forward Greg Windsor may also miss this weekend's action because of a sickness he's been fighting all week.
In a true test of stamina, the Icers will travel south to battle No. 8 Towson Saturday afternoon. It will be the sixth day in a row that the squad has been on the ice.
"It'll be a challenge," Held said. "Towson gives us fits. They're feisty and they don't give up."
Battista doesn't need to be reminded how tough of an opponent Towson will be. The Icers narrowly defeated the Tigers 4-3 on the road and 3-1 at home. The final goal of that game came on an empty net.
"They're a team that has always battled us," he said.
Held said one of his primary responsibilities going into a big game like this is to provide some guidance to the younger players.
"As a veteran you just have to explain to them that it's not going to be a game like Villanova where you score 11 goals," he said. "It's going to be a 3-2 or 2-1 type of game and you're going to come out of this game hurting."
