As the No. 1 Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers (20-2) step onto the ice at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion this weekend, it will be in a very unfamiliar position; looking to rebound from back-to-back losses.

It won't be easy tonight as the Icers find out what it's like to try and knock off an undefeated team instead of being the undefeated team everyone is gunning for.

Penn State must quickly get back in the saddle as No. 2 Rhode Island (23-0-1) travels to State College to put its perfect season on the line.

"It'll be the toughest home game of the season," Penn State Icers coach Joe Battista said. "Hopefully, we learned our lesson. We have to play every shift like it's the most important."

Last weekend, Penn State lost its first two games of the season to a tough Ohio team. Both games were within reach until bad penalties late in both games took away any hope of a comeback.

The players know the same thing has happened in the past. On Sunday, the team held a meeting to discuss what it needed to work on and watched tapes of losses to Ohio in 1998, 2000 and 2002. While watching the tapes, the players were told to keep in mind they still came back to win national championships in each of those seasons.

"The main area of focus is that [the losses are] not the end of the world," Penn State forward Brett Wilson said. "It brought the team back together ... teams aren't going to hand us games."

This game will likely decide who will hold the No. 1 ranking in the country. With the Icers losing two, they need to beat the Rams if they want any chance of remaining in the top spot. Battista knows it won't be easy.

Battista said that even though some people may criticize Rhode Island's strength of schedule, they're still a good team. He added they are a very deep team with a solid goaltender.

The Rams are coming off of back-to-back shut outs against Villanova. They've won 11 straight games, including three at the ACHA East West Classic where they beat Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and No. 7 Michigan-Dearborn.

The Icers will host West Virginia University (8-8-1) tomorrow afternoon. Although not as much of a force in the league as Rhode Island, Penn State knows it can't look past the Mountaineers.

"If we don't get refocused against West Virginia we'll play flat," Battista said. "We can't do that. We need to regroup from [tonight's] game and be ready for [tomorrow]."