The Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers normally aren't content with splitting a weekend's worth of matchups, but they'll certainly take it this week.

The Icers were slated to take on an Ohio team that hadn't lost at home since January 2004. And to top everything off, they were without three of their top players: Kevin Jaeger, Joe Maglaque and Eric Harbaugh, who are currently competing at the World University Games in Australia and won't return to the lineup until February.

Still, after falling to Ohio 3-1 on Friday, the Icers rebounded with a narrow 2-1 victory Saturday to break the Bobcats' 23-game unbeaten streak at Bird Arena.

"Let me tell you, from my standpoint, this was all about heart and the determination that our players showed," Penn State coach Joe Battista said. " This was all about our guys sucking it up and playing hard-nosed in a tough environment."

Assistant captain Brett Wilson was among the skaters Battista talked about. Wilson was diagnosed with a severe shoulder sprain in Saturday's contest but refused to come out of the game. After scoring the first goal, Wilson went on to win some crucial faceoffs down the stretch.

But if any performance stands out, it was that of goalie Chris Matteo.

Matteo stopped 31 pucks, allowed just one goal and made a save that the radio broadcasters heralded as the "save of the century."

"The entire arena thought the puck was in the net -- the crowd, the players, everybody," Battista said. "It was a showstopper."

With 6:50 remaining in the game, Ohio's Sean Gallagher skated down the left wing and put the initial shot on goal. Matteo made the save on the left post, but Rico Day grabbed the quick deflection and shot on a wide-open net. Somehow, Matteo found his way back to the right post to make the unbelievable glove save and preserve the 2-1 lead. It's a good thing Matteo was on fire because the offense struggled.

Ohio outshot Penn State 32-22 on Saturday. Luckily for the Icers, however, they ended up receiving some help from Bobcats' goalie Ryan Baksh.

At the 5:15 mark in the second period, Mike McMullen sent a floater just inside the Ohio blue line. Baksh didn't appear to see it until the last second and attempted to glove the puck.

He missed, putting Penn State up 2-1.

While the Icers' defense and goaltending had the edge over Ohio, it was a different story on Friday -- Battista called it the "tale of two games."

"Saturday, Matteo made the big saves and Baksh [allowed] the soft one," he said. "Friday, Baksh made all the big saves. Paul Mammola played well, but he gave up one soft one."

While Friday and Saturday's games saw some inconsistencies, one thing that remained unchanged was Brandon Steffek's performance for Ohio.

The Michigan native accounted for all of the Bobcats' four goals over the weekend -- including three for a hat trick on Friday.

Battista effectively changed the lines around on Saturday to help counter Steffek. And newcomer Jim Roach only helped matters.

With the temporary departure of three starters, another injury to Chris Rome, minor surgery to Jared Lorenz and the redshirting of Vince Nardy, gaining a skilled freshman transfer certainly doesn't hurt.

Penn State will look to build off its momentum later this week when it takes on No. 1 Rhode Island at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.