If you told Penn State Icers coach Joe Battista at the beginning of the season that his team would be 20-2-0 and sitting atop the ACHA rankings (for now) after 10 grueling weeks, he would have taken it.

"Absolutely," was how he put it.

Battista probably would not have been too upset either with back-to-back 4-2 losses on the road against No. 7 Ohio University at Bird Arena last weekend, in the process snapping the Icers' 20-game winning streak, much to the delight of the raucous standing-room-only crowd that forced the Icers to be escorted to the bench between periods.

After all, it's these games against a bitter rival on the road in January that build championship character and grit at the national tournament in March.

But tell Battista that his team would be swallowed up by the staples of his championship diet -- a commitment to defense, exemplary special teams and mental toughness -- and he most certainly would have been worried.

"We were in both games until the end and shot ourselves in the foot," Battista said.

In essence, the two losses have done a better job of uncovering the little seeds of discontent in the Icers lockerroom than the previous 20 victories have done of covering them up. The team's air-it-all-out, four-hour team meeting Sunday night proved that.

Now don't get me wrong, the losses are far from catastrophic. Heck, they're not even damaging to the Icers' future success. Perhaps, the more appropriate word would be eye-opening. Or revealing. Or exposing. Or telling.

Yes, telling. Telling of the fact that the Icers have taken too many bad penalties recently, evident in the four ruinous penalties in the third period of Friday's game, thwarting what would have been a spirited three-goal comeback, not to mention defenseman Curtiss Patrick's penalty late in Saturday's contest that nullified a man advantage with just under two minutes left.

It's not just that the Icers had given up more power-play opportunities (125) than they enjoyed (117) before last weekend's games, but who is taking the penalties.

Forwards Glenn Zuck, Kevin Jaeger and Mike Carrano, who together form the Icers top scoring line, are among the leaders in penalty minutes, as is Patrick, who is a team captain and the leader of the blue line. The Icers not only lose valuable scoring from these four players when they are not on the ice, but also strong penalty killers.

And, yes, penalties are a big part of hockey. But they also reflect discipline, which is something the Icers must have if they want another championship.

They're also telling of the Icers' commitment, or lack thereof, to defense recently and how the defensemen have often pinched at the blueline or the third forward into the zone got caught too deep, allowing for an odd man rush or breakaway at the other end.

This has left the goalies to stand on their heads quite a few times -- which they have done admirably -- and left Battista doing nearly the same, albeit not in a good way.

Lastly, the losses are telling of the Icers missed opportunities on offense, where they repeatedly outshoot their opponent, but, more often than not, come away frustrated. In eight contests since they were awarded a 1-0 forfeit win against Delaware on Nov. 14, the Icers have averaged only four goals per game (not counting the 13-3 blowout of lowly Div. II Indiana), three goals below their season average.

Part of this has to do with the quality of their opponents, part of it has to do with the bounce of the puck and part of it can be credited to facing strong goaltending. You could even say they have been snake bitten at times. However, Patrick may have put it best.

"This team has the best individual skills players I've seen, but we don't play together as a team," Patrick said. "We need to play more unselfishly."

That being said, the Icers have still outscored their opponents by nearly 100 goals (96 to be exact), outshot their opposition by more than 300 shots and have won 91 percent of their games.

Not too shabby for a team on a losing streak.

This Friday, the Icers will face the team that will likely succeed them at the top of the poll, Rhode Island, another test of the team's championship mettle.

And two months from now, when the Icers are in Iowa skating for their fifth straight national championship, the bitter taste of these back-to-back defeats will likely be long gone.

And should they win it?

Well it may be these losses that showed them how -- no, wait -- told them how.