Apparently winning two tournaments last month and a current 11-game unbeaten streak weren't enough for the Penn State men's ice hockey team to capture the top seed in the ACHA National Championship Tournament.

Instead, coach Joe Battista and his club will settle for the second seed in the 12-team tournament, which begins Feb. 28 in Tucson, Ariz.

Battista said two particular early season losses, combined with an unexpected stalemate this semester, all but clinched his squad's seed.

"I think our tie with Towson and the 4-3 overtime loss to Eastern Michigan sealed our fate," Battista said. "I don't think it had anything to do with the Delaware weekend. All we had to do was win those games. The bottom line is Eastern (Michigan) beat us two out of three times."

The No. 2 Icers (21-3-2) actually lost a pair of 4-3 games to the Eastern Michigan in December, but did score a 6-5 victory on the Eagles home ice two weeks ago.

The Icers will be placed in Pool B of the tournament along with seventh seeded Arizona — the tournament host — and 10th seeded Kent State.

"It's the second year in a row we've had to play the host team in our bracket," Battista said. "That's tough because when you're a No. 2 seed, you feel like you earned a certain advantage. We'll be designated as the home team that game (against Arizona), but we'll be playing on their ice."

Battista said Arizona's Tucson Convention Center is a very tough place to win and described the Wildcat faithful as "loud and vicious."

"It'll be a great atmosphere and a fun atmosphere, but it will be a tough atmosphere," Battista said. "We can't get caught up in all that. They'll get at least 5,000 fans there. They call it the 'Mad House on Main Street'. Take our Section E and multiply it by about 20."

Section E at the Ice Pavilion is typically filled with rabid students who love to taunt the Icers' opposition, especially the goalie.

Although the Icers haven't played the Icecats in over a year, they did defeat the Golden Flashes twice this season by counts of 6-2 and 2-1.

"The fact that we're playing Kent is good because they're an opponent we know," Battista said. "We've generated a lot of shots on them in two games, but they're a tough physical team and they'll make us work for every inch.

"If you look at it, nobody has an easy road to the finals," Battista said. "Everyone has somebody in their bracket that is capable of pulling off and upset."

Top seeded Eastern Michigan headlines Pool A and will be paired with eighth seeded Michigan-Dearborn and ninth seeded Delaware.

"They've got a tough bracket," Battista said. "I'll tell you one thing, they're going to come out of that bracket and know they've played two tough games."

Third seeded Minot State is matched with sixth seeded Illinois and No. 11 Towson in Pool C.

Pool D — which Battista said might be the toughest of all — has fourth seeded Ohio, fifth seeded Iowa State and No. 12 Wisconsin-Whitewater.