The Penn State Lady Icers have just begun playing their best hockey of the season. However, the season is now over.

The Lady Icers made a statement in their final game at the ACHA national tournament in East Lansing, Mich., yesterday, tying Robert Morris College (Ill.) 3-3 in a consolation game.

Robert Morris entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, but fell to Colorado in pool play, relegating it to the consolation bracket.

Eleventh-seeded Penn State, with a win (3-0 against No. 7-seed Western Michigan Saturday) and a loss (6-0 to No. 2-seed Michigan State Friday) in pool play, was looking to leave its mark on the tournament against Robert Morris.

"Everything just clicked," said junior goalie Tara Wheeler, who made a number of big saves against Robert Morris. "I'm not sure why, but we played really good this weekend."

Of course, the Lady Icers wanted to skate off the Munn Ice Arena surface with a win against Robert Morris, but even if the team didn't get a victory it did get one important thing: respect.

"I think this is huge for us," said junior forward Katie King, who scored twice against Robert Morris. "This whole weekend was big for us. We came into this [tournament] ranked really low with little respect."

Penn State was seeded next-to-last in the 12-team field, with only Penn seeded lower. By earning a win and tie against two teams that were receiving a bit more respect, the Lady Icers opened some eyes. The effort the Lady Icers put forth yesterday was stellar, coach Chris Whittemore said.

"We played one of our best games of the whole year," he said. "They put everything together [yesterday]. I think we outplayed them."

Penn State held a 3-2 lead over the Eagles in the third period before Robert Morris rallied to tie it late.

Robert Morris held 1-0 and 2-1 leads before the Lady Icers rallied to tie the game twice before taking the lead.

Saturday's win over Western Michigan proved the Lady Icers belonged in the tournament.

Junior forward Alex McVicker put Penn State up 1-0 at 8:16 into the first period. King added two goals in a 99-second span late in the third period to put the game away.

Penn State was overtaken Friday by an aggressive Spartan team that used a three-goal spurt in just three minutes of the first period to take a solid lead.

Michigan State scored three goals on the power play and held the Lady Icers without a shot in the first period.

The Lady Icers finished the season with a 12-10-1 record.