The sequel isn't usually as good as the original. But the Penn State Lady Icers proved such sentiments wrong when they traveled to Pittsburgh this weekend to take on a crucial three-game set and get another crack at the Panthers.

Coming off a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh (3-6) Jan. 13, in which the Lady Icers got outhustled by an undermanned Panthers team, it was time for Penn State to reevaluate itself.

"We had a players only meeting," freshmen Kristen Reed said last week.

"We talked about things that went wrong on the coaching end as well as for us individually. After our meeting we've been picking it up in practice."

Captains Jen McDevitt and Lauren Shaw implemented a new set of lines on both the defensive and offensive ends in hopes of a new gained chemistry and confidence.

With their backs against the boards and a trip to nationals in limbo, the Lady Icers needed to respond with a bold performance in a weekend that would test how serious the Lady Icers actually are in reaching their goal of getting fitted for those championship rings.

The Lady Icers would be without top scorer Andrea Lavelle, who was serving the final three games of a five-game suspension for her part in a bench-clearing brawl against Buffalo on Dec. 1.

In Friday night's game the Lady Icers owned their Western Michigan opponent for all 45 minutes of play.

But Western Michigan's goalie was a barricade, as she saved an unprecedented 64-of-66 shots by the Lady Icers.

Although the Lady Icers played an emotional, high intensity game, they came away with just a 2-2 tie against the Mustangs.

But the Lady Icers wouldn't let such bad fortunes ruin their weekend.

They were on a mission in Pittsburgh, and next up would be a Saturday matchup with Arizona State in a game where the Lady Icers didn't know what to expect.

The Lady Icers toyed with the She-Devils as they put on a display of hustle, puck ditribution and hard hits in a 5-0 victory.

"The biggest change was attitude," said McDevitt.

"Our focus was exactly were it needed to be all weekend, especially during the Arizona State game.

"Our defense was brilliant. So physical. So intense."

The Lady Icers took the ice for the final game of the weekend on Sunday. The opponent: rival Pittsburgh. The Lady Icers were sure about one thing -- refuse to lose.

The Lady Icers came out scorching against the Panthers.

Penn State avenged last weekend's loss with a 12-4 victory.

"We just came out with all of our guns firing," said sophomore Faryn Shapiro.

"Before Pitt knew what hit them we scored 8 goals."

Penn State avenged last weekend's loss with a 12-4 victory.

Next weekend the Lady Icers will take a trip to the University of Buffalo.

Last time the Lady Icers and Buffalo were on the same ice, the two teams erupted with an all-out brawl in which several players from both teams were suspended.

Lavelle will be back just in time.