The Penn State Lady Icers played a set of surprising head-to-head matchups on back-to-back days at the Greenberg Sports Complex with rival Pittsburgh.

The Lady Icers' first battle on Saturday night was waged without captains Jen McDevitt and Lauren Shaw, sophomore sensation Alex McVicker and leading goal scorer Andrea Lavelle. All four had been suspended for their part in a Dec. 1 bench-clearing brawl against Buffalo.

Saturday night the Lady Icers showed a predator-like attitude in overcoming the absence of their leaders in an 8-7 victory.

"Those are the best games," said freshman forward Katie King, who took center stage with five Lady Icers' goals on Saturday. "You just want to go out and play. You don't want to leave the ice."

Sunday's 8 a.m. game would bring the Lady Icers close to full strength with the return of McDevitt, Shaw and McVicker. Yet the brilliance of Lavelle would still be on the sidelines as she was hit with a five-game suspension in a questionable ruling by the ACHA.

Pittsburgh, playing with just eight players, gave a gutsy performance and refused to leave State College with anything but a split, squeaking out a 4-3 victory over the Lady Icers.

"Last year we only had 11 players," said assistant coach Jason Petrolo, who was taking over for the absent Len Blatnica. "We're used to that style. We had to pick our game up. We're nonstop."

Penn State broke a scoreless game midway through the first period when Stephanie Feyock made a great denial at the defensive end, starting a two-on-one break for King and Jenna Lichtenwalner. King skated right, and dumped the puck back to Lichtenwalner, who fired a slapshot off Pittsburgh goalie Toni Traini. King picked up the loose puck and got the rebound goal for her first of five.

Pittsburgh countered with three consecutive goals on sophomore goalie Kristen Petricelli, who was playing her first career game in net.

Petricelli seemed nervous, as she was unable to corral loose pucks throughout the night, leading to several Pittsburgh goals that should have never scored. Pittsburgh held 3-1 advantage after the first intermission.

The Lady Icers came out for the second period with a passion, putting Panther skaters to the ice, fighting harder for loose pucks, and slashing to the net with a mission. After Penn State goals by King, defender Becky Holmes and Michelle Zulkowsky along with a Pittsburgh score from Tonya Schaldenbrand, her third of the evening, the game was all knotted up at four heading into the final period of play.

Penn State managed to survive several Pittsburgh attacks and held on for the 8-7 victory. Although Petricelli's goaltending was a heart attack all night, the youngster withstood the pressure late.

Sunday's game was a different story. Penn State went ahead 1-0 on a McVicker goal early in which the forward took on three Pittsburgh defenders. McVicker used some improvisation with a quick juke to get rid of one defender, and went on to carry two others on her back, still managing to punch the puck through.

After being behind 3-1 Penn State managed to fight back with a goal by Kristen Reed that seemed to roll through every Panther on the ice, and a Lichtenwalner score that tied the match up at three.

But Pittsburgh was not about to let this game get away. After losing Stephanie Kostos to a broken wrist the night earlier, the Panthers used every bit of energy they had left, showing a relentless style.

On a 2-0 breakaway Pittsburgh went to ahead for good. After a first shot bounced off McDevitt's glove, Amy Miller was there for the easy rebound goal.