Everyone knows it's easy to win games in front of a home crowd. What really separates the good teams from the average teams is an ability to win tough games on the road.

The No. 1 Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers (24-2) will find out this weekend how prepared they are for nationals in Iowa when they travel to Michigan to take on No. 7 Michigan-Dearborn in a two-game series.

"We need to prove to ourselves we can win big games on the road and this is a good opportunity," Penn State coach Joe Battista said. "This will be a good measuring stick to see if we're ready to play big games in other [team's] arenas."

The teams met at the end of November, providing a weekend of exciting hockey in State College with Penn State managing to win both games, 4-3 and 5-2. The Icers hope this weekend will prove to be no different.

Penn State is coming off of its fifth-consecutive Nittany Lion Invitational Tournament championship, beating Western Michigan and Washington & Jefferson last weekend. However, the Icers last road trip saw them stumble, losing their first two games of the season to Ohio, Jan. 9 and 10th.

Battista said his team seems to have learned its lesson from those games. He said that in the past four games the Icers have been scoring more, playing better defense and, most importantly, staying out of the penalty box.

Michigan-Dearborn coach Josh Brandwene -- a former member of the Icers -- said he took little from the Icers' recent road woes against the Bobcats.

"Ohio is an extremely difficult team to play against, especially in Ohio," Brandwene said. "You've got to play your best hockey against Penn State, home or away."

Michigan-Dearborn, on the other hand, is coming off a bye-week that Brandwene said allowed his team to rest several guys who had some bumps and bruises. It also gave the Wolves two weeks to prepare solely for Penn State.

Although Michigan-Dearborn had an extra week of preparation for Penn State, Battista pointed out that the Icers have won four straight games.

"They've had two weeks to prepare just for us," Battista said. "At the same time, we're coming into the games on a roll."

The Icers also know it's not going to be an easy weekend, and they'll have to earn everything they get.

"We know it's going to be a tough game," Penn State forward Jack Weber said. "They've had two weeks to prepare for us. When they came to our barn, they played us hard. We need to bring our 'A' game."

-- By J.W. Palmer