The No. 20 West Virginia Mountaineers have not beaten the ACHA Div. I Icers in 22 previous meetings coming into this weekend. Not only did they keep their dubious streak alive, they didn't even come close to doing anything about it.

The No. 1 Icers (17-1-1) knew the Mountaineers (12-11-1) were not going to be their toughest opponent of the season, but that did not stop them from playing tough Icer hockey.

Following the first period on Friday, the Icers held a 3-0 lead, but, more impressively, only allowed the Mountaineers thirty seconds of sustained offense, emphasizing the strength of their defensive play.

"Our defense played really well," defenseman Josh Mandel said. "Everyone stepped up. It was a good game."

The contest only became more one-sided as play continued after the first intermission. Two more goals were scored and the Icers took a 5-0 lead into the locker room after the second period.

However, the Icers didn't sit back with the big lead.

"Our main concern in the third was not so much our scoring but keeping the zero on the scoreboard," forward/center Paul Sealock said.

Seven goals in the period, for a 12-0 final, showed that scoring must have still been on their mind.

"We just wore them down in the third period. It is hard for them to stay with us for so long," head coach Joe Battista said. "A lot of different guys scored and we played great hockey."

Only three players did not tally points in the game, but that was balanced by six players scoring three points or more, highlighted by Sealock's hat trick.

While there were plenty of highlights to go around, it was business as usual on Saturday. The two teams met again in what started all too familiarly for the Mountaineers.

Not ten minutes had passed in the first and the Icers already had a 4-0 lead, and appeared ready to coast to a big victory. However, the Mountaineers finally began playing with some passion and intensity, which actually helped the Icers.

"They actually kept up the tempo themselves," Penn State defenseman Brandon Cook said. "At times we had to keep up to their level. They played hard until the last buzzer."

As a result of playing hard they were rewarded early in the second. As a defensive miscue between Cook and Scott Curry (colliding at the blue line), gave the Mountaineers their first goal of the weekend and were now down 5-1. From there Mountaineers goalie Jon Natonick stepped up his play, and kept the Icers off the board for the first half of the period. However, when forward/center Greg Windsor scored on a great individual effort, according to Battista, everything fell apart for the Mountaineers, and especially their goalie.

Natonick began loosing his temper, and was getting into it with everyone who stopped in front of his crease. He was talking with fans during play, taunting the Icers during the game, trying to upstage the Icers with every save he made. At one point, Natonick even proceeded to punt the puck down the ice after making a save. However, his antics failed to get to the Icers.

"We try and tune that out as much as we can," Cook said.

The Icers did a great job of sticking to their gameplan and following the course that Battista had laid out for them.

"We try and get people who do not usually play some points," left wing Paul Crooker said.

Coach Battista was able to get a lot of new faces into the line-up this weekend, while some starters got a short rest.

Despite having a number of key players scratched from the lineup, the Icers did not miss a beat this weekend, disposing of the Mountaineers in two games by a combined score of 21-1. The Icers send the Mountaineers back to Morgantown winless, in 24 games and counting against them.