With 14:40 left in the third period of the Penn State Lady Icers' contest against the University of Massachussetts-Amherst on Saturday night, Penn State had clearly shown why it had earned the No. 1 ranking in the ACHA East, while UMass-Amherst was ranked No. 3.

Then suddenly things became a bit more clouded.

The Lady Icers blew a three-goal lead in Saturday's game at the Greenburg Ice Pavillion to finish with a 4-4 tie, and lost yesterday morning's rematch, 2-1.

The team dominated the first two periods of play on Saturday behind a physical defensive performance and strong play from freshman goalie Tara Wheeler. The team went up 4-1 with 14:55 left in the third period on left winger Alex McVicker's second goal of the game, but then things began to come apart for the Lady Icers. UMass-Amherst scored three goals in the final period, the last one coming with 3:59 left in the game.

"I think it was a case of easing up and going into the third period with too much confidence when the game wasn't over yet," Penn State Lady Icers coach Jeremy Sharpe said.

Defender Jen McDevitt and captain Katie King echoed Sharpe's sentiments, saying that the team probably went into the third period feeling like the game was over.

"We got a little overconfident and just stopped playing defense," McDevitt said.

The team allowed several odd-man rushes, leaving Wheeler vulnerable. Things could have actually gotten worse for the Lady Icers as they amassed six penalty minutes in the final four minutes of play, but were able to halt UMass-Amherst's power play.

After the disappointing tie on Saturday night, Penn State got off to a slow start during Sunday's game, and never quite recovered. UMass-Amherst scored the first period's only goal and added another one in the second, before Penn State's comeback behind a goal from captain Katie King, eventually fell short. The team played strong defensively, and Tara Wheeler allowed just two of the 21 shots fired against her to get in the net.

Sharpe said that yesterday's loss was not a case of the team being mentally down from Saturday's disappointing tie.

"I was really impressed with our focus early on," Sharpe said.

The weekend was characterized with extremely physical play, as bodies were flying on the ice during both the games. The Lady Icers' training staff had to come on to the ice three times during yesterday's contest to assist injured players, all of whom would later return to play.

Sharpe said that he is not concerned with Penn State's penalty minutes, many of which came after the whistle to protect Wheeler in front of the net.

"If it means protecting our goalie," Sharpe said, "I'll take the penalty every time."

The Lady Icers beat UMass-Amherst earlier this year, 5-2, and could face them in the ACHA Championships in March.