The time of the season has arrived where every game is vital for the Penn State Division II hockey team.

Coming off a big win last week against Marist, the Ice Lions face Montclair State tomorrow at 10:10 p.m. at the Greenberg Sports Complex. In the latest ACHA rankings, Montclair State ranks sixth in the Northeast Conference. However, they are not to be taken lightly.

"I can tell you this, they have been posting some big scores," Penn State head coach Mo Stroemel said. "They beat Monmouth last weekend 20-2.

Other scores have been in double digits. They have six players on the top scorers list for the ACHA."

In fact, Montclair State has the top two goal-scorers in the league. Kevin Micek leads the list with 23 goals followed by David Bodson with 21. Their record is 17-2-1 with there only two loses coming to Division I West Chester.

"I am pleasantly surprised by the way our season has gone so far," Montclair State head coach Matt Maniscalco said.

Penn State is looking to combat this high-scoring offense with the same physical play that helped them to defeat Marist.

"We have been working on our forechecking. . . Hopefully, we can forecheck well enough to keep them bottled up and not give all those scorers too many opportunities," Stroemel said.

Should the defense break down, the Ice Lions will rely on Brian Gratz in goal. He returns to the net after David Levine started against Marist. It is Stroemel's strategy to give both goalies equal playing time for the rest of the season. So far, it has been effective, with both goalies giving strong performances since the flip-flopping began.

"In my eyes, both are about even and I'm determined to play both of them," Stroemel said after the Marist game.

Penn State does not intend to let Montclair State produce all the offensive fireworks. They plan on peppering Red Hawks goalie Robby Martinez with as many shots as possible.

Leading the offense is captain Jake Wolfe and Ralph Stoehr, who combined for five goals last week. Stroemel hinted that he might again play them on separate lines, which worked well against Marist.

The Ice Lions need to continue their winning ways if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive. They are currently ranked 10th in the Southeast conference. They need to advance to fifth to qualify for the playoffs.

This might require running the table,and the team is confident that this can be done.

"I feel pretty good about the team right now, and I think the guys do too," Stroemel said.

"Hopefully, we can take this feeling into this game and the next semester and come away with a great finish."

Collegian staff writer Andy Cunningham contributed to this story