The semester break may have been a welcomed diversion for many students, but the time off did not help the Penn State Division II Ice Hockey team very much.

The Ice Lions lost to the University of Pittsburgh 4-2 on Saturday night at the Ice Pavilion, dropping their record for the season to 6-8-2 and making their chances of qualifying for the postseason slim.

Early in the first period it became clear that both sides were rusty from not playing. Penn State dominated the puck for most of the period but could not capitalize, due in large part to Panthers' goalie Chris Garman who had 31 saves for the game.

Late in the first, Pittsburgh took a series of shots which were turned away by Penn State goalie David Levine, who met an attacking forward halfway to the blue line to make a save in the closing seconds.

"We came out flat," Penn State defenseman Joe Corbo said.

Less than a minute into the second period, Pittsburgh scored on a quick shot in front of the net. With 11:15 remaining, Penn State captain Jake Wolfe scored off a rebound and was assisted by Ralph Stoehr. Midway through the period, Penn State switched goalies, inserting Brian Gratz.

"The goalie split was just to get them both on their feet," Penn State coach Mo Stroemel said.

A few minutes later, the Panthers scored another goal in the confusion of up-and-down the ice play. Ralph Stoehr struck back with 4:10 remaining, coming across the net from left to right. Jake Wolfe assisted him.

Pittsburgh came out strong to start the third period, again scoring in under a minute. Few shots were taken as both sides began showing signs of fatigue.

"We weren't shooting the puck that well," Corbo said. "Everyone was passing out and we weren't finishing to the net."

With 5:33 remaining in final period, Pittsburgh scored to put the game out of the Ice Lions reach.

"They're (Penn State) not quite as good as they think they are," Stroemel said. "They talk like they have it won before they play. They went through the motions but didn't play the game. . .they let up."

The time off the ice clearly hurt Penn State. Before the break, it had key victories over Marist and Monclair State. The Ice Lion had two practices during the break and neither time the whole team wasn't in attendance.

"We didn't practice too hard before," Joe Corbo said. "We only had 12 guys show up to practice."

"You could tell the difference between who was here Thursday and Friday and who wasn't," Stroemel said. "The practices had a considerable effect."

Penn State looks toward a weekend doubleheader against No. 6 Findlay. According to Stroemel, Penn State probably needs to win out to qualify for Nationals.