Contenders and pretenders are separated through adversity.

The Penn State Lady Icers proved to be the former when battling back after dropping the front end of a three-game road trip in Michigan this weekend.

Coming off a one-sided loss to the adult club Syracuse Warriors last week, the Lady Icers took a 10-hour bus ride to go head-to-head with the Michigan Wolverines on Friday night.

Penn State was thrown onto the ice after the long trip, and the fatigue factor was too much to overcome.

"We really weren't doing all that well," center Valerie Winschel said. "We just came off a 10-hour trip and we hadn't eaten. Basically we were exhausted."

The Lady Icers managed to put together a pair of early goals on the Wolverines, but the Lady Icers lost power on both ends of the ice, and became frustrated with their play while Michigan unleashed an onslaught of goals on way to an easy 6-2 victory.

The puck seemed to bounce Michigan's way all night, and the Wolverines capitalized on their opportunities, scoring on two power-play goals. The Lady Icers, on the other hand, couldn't seem to take advantage of their scoring chances, and failed to seal the deal throughout.

Saturday was a new day for the Lady Icers, and the fiery competitors wouldn't let back-to-back defeats ruin their weekend.

"We were upset about the loss because we knew that we were as good as them (Michigan), and should have beat them," freshman Katie King said. "But we all realized that it just made the next two games more important."

Playing the very next day after a loss can be beneficiary for a team looking to redeem itself, and the Lady Icers were no exception.

The Lady Icers came out strong. They skated together, passed well and outskated Western Michigan with shear endurance.

The Mustangs kept trying to dump the puck into the Lady Icers' zone, but Penn State capitalized on Western Michigan's mistakes all day and scored a 6-2 victory.

The Lady Icers dry-land conditioning paid off on Saturday, as Penn State wore out the Mustangs throughout play. Penn State played with a grueling style for all three periods, and this pressure-style defense paid off in the third period when the Lady Icers pulled away.

Sunday's contest against Michigan State became the most important game of the weekend, as the Lady Icers needed to go back to State College with a winning road trip.

"It was definitely a must-win," King said. "It was real important for the rankings."

The Lady Icers came out steaming against the highly touted Spartans and registered five goals within the first half of the first period. They skated well, passed great and showed they really wanted to win. Before Michigan State could look at the scoreboard the Lady Icers were ahead 7-0 after the first period.

A turning point in the contest could have come when senior star Andrea Lavelle was ejected from the game for an inadvertent high stick.

But losing one of their top players couldn't rattle the Lady Icers, and they wouldn't let Michigan State creep back into the game.

The Lady Icers finished the road trip with a 7-3 victory, and improved their record to 8-3.

"We worked together so well," freshman Kristen Reed said.

"Our passes were on. They were crisp. We were talking on the ice. There was so much positive energy on the ice and on the bench. Our coaches were so proud of us. We played such amazing games (Western Michigan and Michigan State)."

Right now nothing and nobody seem like they can bump the Lady Icers off.

"I think right now if we were to play Boston again with the mindset we're in, we'd win," Winschel said.

"Everyone's real happy with the way we performed the last two games. We had a sudden burst of energy and it really helped us."