The Penn State Ice Lions battled, but were defeated 4-2 by the Presidents of Washington and Jefferson at the Greenberg Sports Complex on Saturday night. The Presidents kept the Lions at bay, as they never trailed at any point in the game.

"I'm disappointed that we lost, but I am not unhappy with the way we played," Ice Lions head coach Mo Stroemel said. "There were just a couple of things that didn't work out."

In the opening period, Washington and Jefferson's Aaron Malik capitalized on a power play opportunity by scoring off teammate Jeff Sheran's assist to put the Presidents up 1-0. Four minutes later, Malik assisted on left defenseman Shaun Keller's goal to extend the lead to 2-0. Penn State finally seemed to find their game late in the first period, and took advantage of a Washington and Jefferson hooking penalty and subsequent power play when center Mark Jenkins hit the net off forward Jordan Katz's pass to cut the President's lead to 2-1 with 20 seconds left.

Less than four minutes into the second period, Jenkins provided another spark for the Lions by blasting the puck past President goaltender Chris Cuppett to even the score at two goals apiece. The score remained deadlocked at 2-2 as both teams relied on the excellent play of their goaltenders, but Washington and Jefferson pulled ahead again with a power play goal to take a 3-2 lead into the final period.

Midway through the third period Washington and Jefferson killed a Penn State power play and Cuppett smothered the puck thus preventing the Ice Lions from scoring on a three-on-one breakaway scoring chance.

Ice Lion goaltender Brian Gratz kept the Lions in the game with brilliant work in front of the net, but the Presidents finally came up with a breakaway goal to make it 4-2. The Lions desperately fought to cut into the two-goal deficit by going with an empty net late in the period, but Cuppett extinguished any hope of a rally with his solid play in goal.

"He played fantastic," Washington and Jefferson head coach David Hornack said. "With the breakdowns we have, we need a guy like that in the net."

Despite the loss, the Ice Lions reflected on the positives of their performance.

"We're getting better," Gratz said. "Every game is another step in the right direction."

"I think we are closer to where we need to be in terms of personnel alignment," Stroemel said. "It's a matter of settling down and getting to play with each other."

The Ice Lions (1-3) will continue their current home stand on Saturday night when they host West Virginia University. Opening face off is scheduled for 10:10 p.m.