Lying on the ice midway through the second period of last Saturday's game against Illinois, Chris Rome knew something was wrong.

Rome, a sophomore defenseman for the Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers, who had been seeing significant ice time all year and had recently stepped up into an even more prominent position on the team, had felt something go in his knee.

An X-ray Sunday confirmed that Rome had torn his medial collateral ligament in his left knee, but an MRI yesterday brought some good news for a change -- Rome had not torn his anterior cruciate ligament as some had feared initially. The injury will sideline the defenseman for at least the next two weeks, but early indications are that four weeks is a more likely return date.

Penn State assistant coach Mike McNeill, who has assumed head-coaching duties while Joe Battista coaches Team USA at the World University Games, said Rome's injury was merely an accident and not anything intentional.

"It looked like the guy just lost his footing and slid into Chris' leg," McNeill said. "It didn't look like it was intentional."

On the play, Rome had gathered a puck at the right point, and was looking to send a shot at Illinois goalie Tim Danlow. With an Illinois defender on his right shoulder and another coming from his left side, Rome planted on his left leg to take the shot.

In all the confusion of the game, somehow the defender rushing from the left lost his footing and began to fall. Sliding on the ice, the defender crashed into Rome's left leg, still locked in place.

"When I first went down, I felt something go in my knee," Rome said. "When I went off the ice, I thought I'd [be back later in the game], but then the doctors told me what happened."

Before the results of the MRI were announced, and the possibility of an ACL injury -- a devastating blow for many people -- still loomed large, the mood was rather somber. Paul Sealock, a senior center for the Icers and a player who has recovered twice from serious knee injuries, said the key to rehabilitating these injuries is patience.

"The key is small steps," Sealock said. "Your range of motion is measured in degrees. If one day you got this much further than the previous day, then that's a step forward."

One exercise Sealock says helps players regain their hockey mobility is the Slide Board. The workout, in which a person wears nylon socks and slides laterally from side to side on a slick board, helps players regain skating form and agility.

Working with Rome on his recovery will be the Penn State trainers, who Sealock says are a crucial part of returning to the ice.

"I could never have done that on my own," Sealock said. "Doing the exercises on your own, it's nothing like having the help we have with our training staff here."

While injured, Rome said he will continue to lift with the team and that he is looking forward to making it back on the ice.

"I'll still go to the weight room and hopefully work out with the team but just on my upper body for now," Rome said. "I'll still be at practices and games. I'll just take it day by day."