As defenseman Luke Walker's clearing attempt wrapped around the boards, junior forward Mike Carrano skated just inside his own blueline, collecting the puck and in one motion backhanded a pass to Kevin Jaeger who was skating through center ice.

And as he has done so many times this season, Jaeger streaked across the blueline and unleashed a rocket from the top of the circle, beating Washington & Jefferson goalie Yan Clermont cleanly at 2:32 of the first period giving the Icers a 1-0 lead, in the championship game of Nittany Lion Invitational on Saturday night.

And as Carrano has done so well recently, he went to the boards to do the dirty work, freeing the puck up for linemates Jaeger and Glenn Zuck to score the goals.

And the glory.

Not that he is complaining.

"I do a lot of the little things that kind of get unnoticed and get pretty beat up for going in the corners," Carrano said. "As long as I spring Zuck and Jaeger free and they get the goals. I don't care who scores the goals."

If he doesn't care who scores the goals, he sure has covered it up well the past few weeks, including this weekend, when he tallied three goals to go along with three assists, while garnering all-tournament honors in the Nittany Lion Invitational Tournament.

Becoming comfortable with his newfound role, and newfound recognition, Carrano has become the glue for the top scoring line in the ACHA, glue found on most nights smeared on the glass behind the net. Or in the corners.

"Glenn and I have always just kind of passed to each other and we've had to work him in and start to trust him," Jaeger said.

"We've really found [that chemistry] now and over the last few weeks its really started clicking."

Playing with Justin DePretis for the first month of the season, Zuck and Jaeger, as well as DePretis, talked numerous times about their being "not enough pucks to go around."

The fact that the three are one, two and four in scoring in the ACHA respectively showed that.

Enter Carrano, the perfect fit for the line: unselfish, gritty and unrelenting, the fly that keeps coming back for more punishment. Think Keith Primeau of the Philadelphia Flyers minus about seven inches.

It's a role he relishes, and one his teammates, especially Zuck and Jaeger, are appreciative of.

"He's a good corners player, he's a real grinder and I'm real happy for him, he's playing well and he's starting to put the puck in the net," Zuck said.

"He really rounds out our line as a whole."

Carrano admits that early in the season he was pressing, holding the stick too tight would be how it is put in hockey terms.

However, he may have scored the biggest goal of the season for the No. 1 ACHA Div. I Icers two weekend's ago against No. 2 Rhode Island.

It was vintage Carrano, who, with his team down 1-0 early in the second period, crashed the net as Zuck wristed a shot from just inside the blueline, and with a man on his back, stuffed home the rebound, propelling the Icers to a 7-2 win.

With 11 goals and 16 assists this season, Carrano has become a viable scoring threat on a very viable line.

However, his biggest assists on the ice are the ones in the corner, or behind the net, or at the blueline, like on Saturday night.

"I'm kind of just doing my thing out there," Carrano said. "I'm happy I'm getting more points but I'm just happy the team is winning. I just hope it works out in the end, I think it will."

So far he can't complain, not that he would.