"Ohio penalty, No. 35 Scott Walls, five minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and a game misconduct."

The announcement brought Penn State fans to their feet. Spectators who stared at the ice with their mouths hanging wide open rose their voices in a thunderous cheer as the goaltender of the No. 3 Ohio men's ice hockey team was escorted off the ice.

No one on the ice Friday night deserved an ejection as much as Walls did, and everyone at the Ice Pavilion knew it, including Walls and the rest of the Ohio team.

But it was difficult to comprehend how the game got that out of hand.

The game, pitting No. 1 against No. 3, started off as it should have — two closely matched teams skating a hard-hitting hockey game.

The fans gasped each time a player was delivered into the boards with a body-crunching check.

Nothing was off track when the Icers scored the first goal or when they scored the second, but both teams looked a little thrown when Penn State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period.

Frustrations are common when a team falls behind, but the events that followed those first three goals went far beyond frustration.

Fair play hits turned into out-for-blood cheap shots by Ohio.

Stick holding, tripping and roughing were every-minute occurrences but each one was overlooked by the referees, possibly because of the score.

Of course it could also be because the Bobcats were the No. 3 team in the nation and everyone expected them to play with a little more class.

By the middle of the second period, Ohio's play had degenerated to a series of malicious maneuvers, which appeared to have the intent of injury. But to Penn State's credit, none of the players were drawn into retaliating.

The poise of the national champion team seemed to frustrate Ohio even more. With eight minutes left in the second stanza, Ohio's Zac Hernandez drove one of Penn State's players into the corner boards behind Ohio's net and was issued a five-minute major for boarding — which the whole team deserved after getting away with numerous cheap shots throughout the game.

With the green light to score on the five-minute power play, Penn State unleashed on Ohio's net, scoring twice on Walls before he finally broke down. Crooker, who tacked up Penn State's fifth score of the game, had his post-goal celebration cut short when Walls interrupted with a searing slash to Crooker's upper arm. Crooker had to leave the game because of Walls' little hissy fit.

But when Walls left the ice, he wasn't done wreaking havoc. He went back to the locker room and began throwing coolers of ice like a three-year-old having a temper tantrum.

Ultimately, the fifth-year goalie — someone who should have enough experience to keep his temper in check — cost his team the game and a considerable amount of dignity. Goalies are a team's last resort and as many times as they get scored on, is the same number of times they have to pull themselves back together and continue with the game.

Not only did Walls make a fool out of himself, he made the entire Ohio team look like a bunch low-class dolts destined for the garbage heap. It shows poorly on the whole team, but especially the coaching staff, when their players have no self-restraint.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems that a No. 3 ranking should carry with it the responsibility of showing some class. Ohio had none.

Usually any team ranked in the top five is there not only because they have superior on-ice skills, but also a positive attitude. Ohio lacked the latter.

Any champion should have the good grace to win or lose with dignity, but I suppose that's the difference between Penn State — a national champion — and Ohio — one of the teams Penn State leaves in its wake.