Penn State men's ice hockey coach Joe Battista must have broken a mirror lately. Or maybe he crossed paths with a black cat. Perhaps he walked under a ladder.

Whatever the case may be, Battista has certainly come across his share of bad luck this season since injuries and the absence of several players have disallowed the 14-year coach to keep the same lineup on a weekly basis.

"This team has just faced so much adversity this year," Battista said.

"We've seen it all. It's been a wild ride. But if you look at our record, we must be doing something right."

The No. 2 Icers (22-4-2) will be shorthanded again this weekend as they step outside of their conference to battle Seneca College (7-6-1).

The puck drops tonight at 9 and 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Both games are at the Ice Pavilion.

Seven — possibly eight — Icers will not see action for various reasons. Battista will be without the services of forwards Greg Held and Mike Blevins and defensemen Scott Curry and Josh Mandel who have yet to return from the World University Games in Poland.

Glenn Zuck will sit out because of a shoulder sprain he suffered last weekend against Ohio. Scott Fyffe will serve a two game suspension this weekend because of his involvement in last weekend's bench-clearing brawl with the Bobcats. Eric Harbaugh has been sick all week and will be a game time decision.

"This is just the darndest end to a season I've ever been a part of," Battista said. "It seems like half of our team isn't here."

But playing without a number of players is becoming routine for the Icers this season. Senior Alon Eizenman, last season's ACHA player of the year, missed a month of action earlier this season due to an illness. Sophomores Paul Sealock and Neal Price have missed much of the season because of knee injuries.

Price returned to the Icers' lineup just four games ago, but must sit out at least one game this weekend to keep his redshirt status.

Mandel and freshman Bobby Pate have also missed games due to injury.

Even Battista had to miss a weekend set against Michigan-Dearborn in mid-November because of health problems.

"Anytime you're faced with that kind of adversity, it can only make you stronger," sophomore goalie Scott Graham said. "Plus, this has given a lot of younger guys some valuable experience."

This weekend marks the second time the Icers and the Sting have butted heads this season. The Icers dominated their Canadian neighbors with a 5-1win in the first round of the Two Nations Cup Tournament in early January.

But Battista is expecting a much different challenge this time around, partly because of his team's depleted status.

"We're not the same team as we were when we first played because of the injuries," Battista said.

"We did beat them 5-1 but the score isn't a good indication of how the game went. The shots on goal were even at 37-37, and we only led 2-1 going into the third period."

This weekend's games will be the last time the Icers see action before the ACHA national championship tournament, which will get underway Feb. 28, in Tucson, Ariz.

"I think this weekend is really big for us," Graham said.

"We need to work on some of our systems and we need to take some momentum into the tournament."

Graham will get the nod between the pipes for tonight's game while junior netminder Geoff Beauparlant will start in goal on Saturday.

Beauparlant is also looking at this weekend as a good indication of how the Icers will play in Tucson.

"These two games are really going to be hard fought," Beauparlant said. "But we're ready for the task. This will be a good stepping stone into nationals."