It was a weekend indicative of this year's ACHA because no team is guaranteed a win anymore.

Friday night was a rarity of sorts for the No.2 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers as they welcomed the No. 1-ranked Rhode Island Rams to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.

The Icers (15-5-2) were embarrassed by URI in front of more than 1,400 people as the Rams cruised to a 7-1 victory which was the worst loss the team has suffered since losing to Alabama-Huntsville 15-1 back in 1996.

All evening it looked as if URI was a step ahead of the Icers as it shut off all passing lanes. Icers coach Joe Battista has called URI the fastest team the Icers will see this year, and the Rams certainly lived up to that deeming.

Paul Mammola relieved Chris Matteo of his goaltending duties before the end of the second period after he surrendered six goals in a game for the second time this season.

"There wasn't a lot he could do on some of those, but when we give up six goals, you have to try something else," Battista said.

The game was pretty much decided in the second period when URI scored four goals going three-for-four on the power play.

"One of the things that frustrated me was that as soon as we fell behind we started reverting back to playing individual hockey," Battista said. "We're not as skilled as we used to be, and we don't have a lot of finishers on our team ... what that means is we have to change our style of play."

Battista has frequently stated that his team is in a rebuilding year as it tries to remain competitive in ACHA.

After Friday night's game he reflected back to Nov. 12 when the Icers handily defeated Michigan-Dearborn, 9-2, but then turned right around and lost to them 4-2 the next day. He told his team to "forget tonight [and] start thinking about tomorrow."

Anthony Feyock, URI's goaltender, came into the weekend allowing only 1.4 goals per game. He's the reigning ACHA rookie of the year and almost single-handedly dominated the Icers in November giving up a total of two goals that entire weekend. If scoring two a weekend is a daunting task, scoring four in one game against him would seem impossible. Someway, somehow, the Icers did so on Saturday.

At the outset it seemed as if the Icers were on their way to another disheartening loss as they fell behind URI, 2-0, for the second straight game.

"We knew that when they were up 2-0, we had to get the next goal," senior forward Mike Carrano said.

After rallying to take a 3-2 lead, Carrano took a pass from redline teammate Mike McMullen and went top-shelf over the shoulder of Feyock to give the Icers a 4-2 lead. That goal would hold up to be the eventual game-winner in a 4-3 win.

The Icers were once again without their leading scorer, Kevin Jaeger, and top two defensemen, Eric Harbaugh and Joe Maglaque ,who are in Austria for the World University Games. Many feel Carrano deserved a shot on that team as he was one of the final cuts before the selections.

"I think he took it personally and he stepped up and played two great games," assistant captain Brett Wilson said.