The smirk on the face of Joe Battista said it all during Tuesday's practice.

Skating down the right side of the ice was senior Kevin Jaeger, stick in hand, defender in his way.

If you blinked you probably missed it.

Jaeger almost effortlessly stopped on a dime and in one motion flung a backhanded pass that somehow made its way through heavy traffic and landed perfectly on the stick of Jesse Weinzimmer. The rest was easy for the freshman Weinzimmer as he deposited the puck between the goalie's legs.

While everyone else oohed and ahhed, all Battista could do was sport the grin of a proud father.

But everyone in the rink knew what he was thinking: My boys have come home.

The wait is over for the No. 2 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers as their leading scorer, Jaeger, and top two senior defensemen, Joe Maglaque and Eric Harbaugh, are back with the team after playing for Team USA in the World University Games.

Team USA finished with an immensely improved 3-3 record at the WUG in Innsbruck, Austria, after totaling only one win in the last two games combined. That experience seems to have been priceless for the three seniors.

"It definitely made me a better player to go over there and play with more talented guys," said Maglaque, Team USA's co-captain.

The NCAA withdrew its players from competing in these games at the beginning of 2000, which left the door open for ACHA players to participate. So, in essence, finishing with a .500 record is a step in the right direction for the ACHA.

"We were close to actually making it to the medal round, which would have been incredible, but we're happy with the 3-3," USA head coach Chad Cassel said.

"There weren't a lot of expectations coming in for us, but we proved that we can come over and compete at this level."

The three Icers were very fortunate to have the opportunity to represent their country in the Olympics. But along with that comes a situation that can potentially be uncomfortable.

They were now being forced to play with guys who they've become accustomed to despising on the ice.

"I thought before I even got there that I definitely wouldn't get along with most of the guys on the team because we have a pretty hateful rivalry with Ohio and Illinois," Harbaugh said.

But after having such success as an underdog in just about every game they played over there, the three have made some unexpected friends.

"I think we've all developed some great relationships with players on teams that we do have big rivals with . . . and it'll make the [ACHA] games more exciting for us to have some personal pride out there," Jaeger said.

The Icers are 17-5-2 and posted a respectable 4-2 record during the span in which the Games took place.

During the course of this season, they've shown they do indeed have the talent to win another ACHA title, but in order to do that, Jaeger knows his team has to give maximum effort each time they take the ice.

"The biggest thing for me was that nobody ever took a shift off over there, every guy in Europe played their ass off until the end of their shift. If we carry that attitude into Nationals, we'll be in such good shape," Jaeger said.

The Icers will play on the road against a well-respected Michigan-Dearborn team this weekend. It's the same team that shocked the Icers, 4-2, at home in mid-November. That coming just one day after the Icers beat them easily, 9-2.

Battista has said all year long that no team can be taken lightly anymore. And with help from his three returning seniors, the Icers should be that more focused.

"Playing against those other guys, I feel like I have a totally different attitude about what it takes to win," Jaeger said.