The Penn State Div. II men's ice hockey team, the Ice Lions, will venture south today to face the Kentucky Cool Cats at the Lexington Ice Center.

The puck drops at midnight tonight and Saturday night in what amounts to be a crucial series for both teams.

"We really need to win decisively from here out," Ice Lions head coach Mo Stroemel said.

The Ice Lions (8-9) are ranked 10th in the ACHA Northeast Conference, and they must finish in the top five in order to secure a bid for the national tournament in February.

Kentucky (7-10-1) is ranked seventh in the ACHA Southeast Conference, and they are also trying to secure a playoff spot.

The Cool Cats have not faired well on the road this season, winning only one away game. However, they are 6-3-1 on home ice.

"We have an advantage of playing at home, because we have access to all of our players," Kentucky head coach Phil Sweeney said. "It is tough to bring a full squad on the road, that is why we struggle, but we have a very talented team."

Another factor that comes into play when the Cats are at home is the presence of large and loud midnight crowd at the ice center dubbed "The Cat House."

"They pack the place," said Ice Lion goaltender David Levine, who played against Kentucky in Lexington two years ago.

"It's wild and super loud, but it is really fun to play in front of."

Kentucky will try to stay as consistent as possible on offense.

The Cats are led by assistant captain and defenseman Jared Christopher and forwards Aaron Stephenson and Chip Lampe who have a combined 42 points on the season thus far.

"The biggest thing is to stay out of the (penalty) box and score early to get our fans into the game," Sweeney said.

The Lions have four lines that have been consistent offensively so far this season.

But capitalizing on their power play opportunities may be vital against Kentucky.

"Our power play is starting to click," Stroemel said. "We'll continue to work on that, because Kentucky takes a lot of penalties."

Defensively, both teams have strong goaltenders.

The Cats have Justin Clark, who has a save percentage of 88.8 in 700 minutes of play.

Junior Brian Gratz leads the Ice Lions with a save percentage of 91.2 in over 660 minutes of play, and David Levine who often rotates into the line-up has been solid as well.

"As far as goaltending goes, I don't think anyone can match us," Ice Lion assistant captain and sophomore forward Mike Woisin said.

Overall, the Ice Lions will look to dominate the boards and keep up their physical play.

"They play a very physical game at home, and to take advantage of this we have beefed up our physical play at practice to simulate and counteract some of it," Stroemel said.

The Lions would gain a huge amount of momentum with two wins over Kentucky, as they will be facing conference teams ranked ahead of them throughout the rest of the season.

Every game will be a stepping stone to the tournament for Penn State.

"It would be huge to come out with big wins this weekend," Levine said. "From there we'll be in the home stretch, and everybody will know that we'll be able to do it."