The No. 2 Penn State men's ice hockey team felt they had something to prove this past weekend against West Virginia.

Humbled by a 5-5 tie with No. 11 Towson last Wednesday — a team they beat 5-1 in October -- the Icers felt they needed a strong showing against their border rivals to reestablish themselves as a favorite to win the ACHA title.

Head coach Joe Battista's squad did just that by clobbering the Mountaineers by a combined score of 17-0 at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.

Spearheaded by a suffocating defense and the return of All-Americans Alon Eizenman and Josh Mandel, the Icers (13-2-2 ACHA, 15-3-2 overall) looked like a team with championship swagger.

Just how dominating was the Icers' defense?

Look no further then the weekend's total shot tally.

Battista's club surrendered only 36 shots while peppering Mountaineer goalies Billy Lakios and Jack McCrory with 137 shots.

"I think we've got a strong defense," Battista said. "The fact that we're not giving up the blue line means we're not letting too much space develop between their forwards and our defenders."

Although goalies Yan Clermont and Geoff Beauparlant saw relatively few shots, Battista was pleased with their performance.

"He stopped two breakaways and he thwarted them on several power plays," Battista said of Clermont's Friday night performance. "That's two shutouts in two games for him."

Despite turning back all 18 shots that the Mountaineers (5-14-1) fired at him, Clermont remained modest about his rare opportunity to shine.

"I just go out there and play for fun," the sophomore netminder said. "It's just nice to get the ice time."

Beauparlant was equally humble and praised the defense in front of him after his Saturday afternoon shutout.

"They're just playing really well," he said. "They deserve a lot of credit for a lot of the things that are going on with our team right now. It's been a total team effort. We just have to keep it going."

The Icers' offensive surge was due in large part to the return of Eizenman and Mandel. The two stars combined for four goals and eight assists against the Mountaineers.

"It didn't take long for them to shake off the rust," Battista said. "Having Alon and Josh back on the penalty kill just makes us that much better. Josh has that long reach and Alon is just so crafty. He's never out of the play."

Both players said they feel fine physically and should have even better performances after taking part in a few practices.

"We can't hold anything back now," Mandel said. "We have a tournament next weekend and Eastern Michigan (the ACHA's top ranked team) after that, which will be a big test."