Josh Mandel stepped through the door and, waving to the fans for a final time, pulled it shut.
It was over.
The Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers (26-3-1) finished their regular season this weekend at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, beating the St. Clair College Saints (14-2-1) 5-4 on Friday night and then dropping Saturday's contest 3-2.
For the nine members of the Icers senior class, Saturday also marked the culmination of their home careers at Penn State. For a group that has enjoyed a seemingly endless fairy tale while in Happy Valley, the loss was a cruel stab of reality.
Following a special presentation in which each senior skated from the red line to the team bench where his family greeted him, Saturday's game was a seesaw battle throughout. For two periods, both goalies practically stood on their heads, making jaw-dropping saves that kept the game scoreless.
With the opportunity to take a 1-0 lead in the first period, Penn State senior forward David Tunon skated in on St Clair goalie Ryan Schuchard and launched a point-blank shot that the goalie turned away with a spectacular stick save.
A little more than six minutes later, Saints forward Paul Vergeer charged hard at Icers goalie Scott Graham on a breakaway. Vergeer put a wrist shot practically at the crossbar as Graham bent partially forward, but the senior net-minder made perhaps his most agile glove save of the season to keep the zero on the scoreboard.
With the game still scoreless deep into the second period, Penn State junior forward Glenn Zuck fought his way to the net with a defender on him. As the St. Clair defender delivered a shot that took him partially off his feet, Zuck managed to throw a shot on net with only one hand that beat Schuchard at the 16:21 mark for a 1-0 Penn State lead.
The goalie battle ended in the third period. The Saints got two key rebounds in front of the net and put both past Graham for a 2-1 lead. After Penn State sophomore forward Kevin Jaeger scored to tie the game at two, St. Clair defenseman Dustin Ramerth gathered a rebound that slid out to the point and threw a shot past a prone Graham to give the Saints a 3-2 win.
However, all the seniors left the ice for the last time smiling and exhausted. While they said the loss stung, the ACHA national tournament was the truly important contest. Penn State coach Joe Battista said the players should hold their heads high, as they gave it every ounce of strength they had.
"If you look at them, they're drained," Battista said. "They left everything on the ice."
Friday's game was almost the polar opposite, with the Icers winning on junior defenseman Curtiss Patrick's goal with just 3:03 left. With a defender draped on him, Patrick sent a backhanded shot at St. Clair goalie Grant Cousineau that trickled past him and slid inch by inch inside the far post. Patrick, who had been a game-time decision to play, said the puck seemed to hang on the ice forever.
Icers junior forward Bill Downey netted his 100th point at Penn State with a goal 1:54 seconds into Friday's second period that gave his team a 2-1 lead. Throughout the game, neither team managed more than a one-goal lead, with the Icers scoring the final two points of the game for the win.
Mandel said that although the weekend's final result wasn't what everyone had hoped for, it does set the team up nicely for a run at the Murdoch Cup.
"As much as I wanted to win, I'm not going to let today put a damper on what we did here," Mandel said. "We're peaking at the right time. We have that taste in our mouth and nobody likes that."
With the emergence of each player from the locker room, it slowly grew quiet. It was over, but what a run it had been.
