Back-and-forth, Saturday's game between the Lady Icers and the Washington (D.C.) Wolves went until the final moments of the third period.

That's when Penn State went to Lauren Johnston one more time, and she delivered.

Johnston's fifth goal of the game, with 77 seconds remaining, lifted the Lady Icers past Washington, 7-6.

Penn State was coming off a 4-1 loss Friday to the Pittsburgh Amateur Penguins' under-19 team.

On Saturday, no one seemed to have the upper hand for any substantial length of time.

Yes, the Lady Icers out-shot Washington, 31-20, but the Wolves managed to continually notch goals when it counted.

Until the end.

Lady Icers coach Chris Whittemore said Johnston has been putting in the effort all season. It wasn't until Saturday, he said, that Johnston started getting the breaks.

"She's always going out there and busting it," Whittemore said.

"Up until Saturday, it was like she was getting her chances, but the puck was not going in. The floodgates just opened for her."

Johnston's final goal, at 16:43 of the third period, was assisted by junior Alex McVicker and freshman Dana Voelker.

Her first two goals of the game came at 2:22 and 5:07 of the first period, giving the Lady Icers a 2-0 lead.

Washington rallied back, putting three goals past junior goalie Kristen Reed in a five-minute stretch late in the opening period. That put Washignton ahead by the score of 3-2.

The Wolves then added another goal less than four minutes into the second period to grab a two-goal lead on the Lady Icers.

The Wolves and Penn State swapped goals before Johnston scored with 4:28 remaining, giving the Lady Icers a 6-5 edge.

Washington soon went on the power play and responded with a tally at 15:21 to go in front.

Then Johnston provided the game-winner in the following moments.

Whittemore noted Johnston is always in the position to score the puck at any given time.

He added her performance Saturday could spur on a barrage of scoring that could carry into this weekend's ECWHL playoffs.

"Once you get one, maybe two, the floodgates open and it comes back to you," Whittemore said.

"She kept working hard and the puck started going into the back of the net."

The game also was the first full-game effort in goal for Reed, who played for part of last Sunday's game, her first appearance in net this season, at Ohio State and the final minutes of Friday night's game.

On Friday, the Amateur Penguins did a good job of preventing Penn State from finding the net after junior Katie King's goal 10 minutes into the first period.

Pittsburgh scored three second-period goals to take charge and added another tally 5:30 into the third period.