A strange thing happened for the Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers this past weekend.

It's so odd that in 12 previous games this season, it had only happened once.

They were behind.

In both Friday's and Saturday's games at the University of Delaware, Penn State found itself on the short end of a 2-1 deficit. Neither of the leads would hold for the No. 4 Blue Hens (9-4-0), however, as the No. 1 Icers (14-0-0) rallied to beat host Delaware 6-2 on Friday and then 7-4 on Saturday.

Going into the weekend, Penn State Icers coach Joe Battista said it would be vital to jump out on the Blue Hens in what figured to be an intense series.

"Delaware was playing desperate hockey, there was a sense of urgency," Battista said. "They were playing to stop the bleeding. They were undefeated and now they've lost four of their last five."

Friday night, the Icers rallied from their first-period deficit to pour on the offense, scoring five unanswered goals. Penn State senior center Neal Price led the onslaught with his power-play goal about six minutes into the second period. Price said being down a goal against the Blue Hens was nothing new.

"We knew the past three years we'd been in the same situation," Price said. "We just tried to go out there and keep banging."

Not to be outdone by their red-line teammate, Penn State sophomore forward Kevin Jaeger scored twice on the night and junior forward Glenn Zuck added a goal.

By Saturday, many of the Icers were sore following an extremely physical game. Icers sophomore defenseman Chris Rome suffered a concussion Friday night and did not play, while senior defenseman Josh Mandel could barely lift his shoulder, but played anyway.

"I'm not so sure if it hadn't been Delaware he would have played," Battista said. "He looked at me without hesitation and said 'I'm gonna play.' "

Saturday's game again found Penn State trailing 2-1, but this time the Blue Hens would not go away. After senior forward Dustin Martin's even-strength goal, Jaeger netted a short-handed score, his third score of the weekend, to give the Icers a 3-2 lead. However, the Blue Hens knotted the score at 3-3 before the second period came to a close.

A little more than two and a half minutes into the third period, Penn State junior defender Eric Harbaugh tallied a breakaway goal to put the Icers ahead 4-3 and the Penn State bench went crazy.

"The whole bench erupted," Battista said. "Eric is an outstanding defensive defenseman, but he's not really known for his offensive skill."

Before the Blue Hens could take a collective breath, Icers freshman forward Brett Wilson scored what proved to be the game-winner just 15 seconds later. Battista said the fluidity with which Wilson made the play was impressive.

"It's like he got it and shot it in the same motion," Battista said. "I don't think [the Delaware goalie] even saw it."

Penn State senior forward Paul Crooker, who had a key goal in each game for the Icers, said that every game against Delaware is extremely important.

"Winning in Delaware is always great," Crooker said. "Anytime we go in there it's always great to leave with two wins."