The Penn State Lady Icers hit the road this weekend to take on the Neumann Knights, a NCAA Div. III team.

While the Knights are a varsity NCAA team and the Lady Icers are a club team, Lady Icers head coach Jeremy Sharpe doesn't believe his team should play any differently.

"Really, the competition is just about the same," Sharpe said.

"The big difference is that they have NCAA status."

This season, the Lady Icers previously played another Div. III team, Chatham, and lost a closely matched 2-1 skirmish on October 18.

Sharpe stressed that he is continuing to look for defensive improvement, despite the team allowing only two goals or less in six of their seven games.

Specific targets for improvement include back-checking and neutral zone defense.

Against the Knights, Sharpe said he is particularly interested in seeing how the Lady Icers fare against their dangerous offense.

"[Neumann is] some pretty tough competition," Sharpe said.

"If we focus and work hard, though, we have a great chance of winning this game."

-- By Russ Shelly