After the final whistle in Saturday's game, the No. 2 Penn State men's ice hockey team took the ice and raised their sticks in appreciation to the fans for supporting the team through the season.

And in their final home weekend, the Icers couldn't have given the fans a more exciting show. The Icers (24-4-2) pulled out back-to-back victories against Seneca Friday and Saturday at the Ice Pavilion with 6-1 and 3-2 scores, respectively.

The two wins wrap up Penn State's regular season and set the team on track for the ACHA playoffs. And the Icers agree that this weekend was possibly the best preparation they could have asked for.

"That looked like playoff hockey out there," Penn State coach Joe Battista said. "They were a tough team and, you have to give them credit, they came out flying."

Saturday's game was a battle from the start and Seneca scored the first blow, slinging a shot past Penn State goaltender Scott Graham just more than three minutes into the game.

A penalty dealt to the Sting less than a minute later gave the Icers' power play unit a solid opportunity to tie the game up, but a series of turn-overs and some less-than-perfect puck handling kept the Icers from taking a shot.

But those problems were corrected before their second power play and forward Justin DePretis slammed home a shot to tie the game at 1-1 near the midway point of the first period.

The two teams swapped scoring chances until early in the second period when the Icers scored to seemingly go ahead in the game. But the goal was disallowed because the net was off the moorings.

The Icers, however, were able to get it back only a few minutes later when Paul Crooker punched home a shot to put the Icers on top 2-1. The lead didn't last long as Seneca tied the game with about five minutes remaining in the second period.

Frustrated by some bad bounces, Penn State came out flying in the third stanza and scored just 23 seconds in, but the net was again off its moorings and yet a second goal was disallowed.

"We said all along that goalie does that (kicks the net off)," Battista said. "He did it a few times when we played them up in Canada and we knew that he purposefully kicks the post off."

The added frustrations were not enough to keep the Icers down, however, and with 12 minutes left in the game DePretis slammed home his second goal of the night and seal Penn State's win 3-2.

Although having two goals disallowed in a game is not only unusual but also annoying, DePretis said the key to the win was not allowing those annoyances to worry the team.

"It's always more exciting to have to fight through a game," DePretis said. "Yes, things like that can get frustrating, but if you let those things get to you it pulls you apart and the team goes down the drain."

The previous night's game was far less frustrating for Penn State. Although the team got off to a slow start in the first period, allowing Seneca to jump out to a 1-0 lead, the Icers followed up with six goals in the next to stanzas to finish the game 6-1. Crooker, along with Brandon Cook, Alon Eizenman, Jack Weber, Curtiss Patrick and Kyle Jordan all scored in the effort.

As Penn State prepares for the ACHA Tournament, which starts next week, the players said they are taking away some valuable lessons from this weekend's games.

"If we want to win a national championship we're going to have to play hard," Jordan said. "It's not going to happen if we don't have the work ethic. We have to remember that."