Losing two games at home is usually a source of bitter disappointment for a team, but for the No. 12 Penn State Lady Icers, losses to Western Michigan this weekend only motivated the team to continue improving its play.

The Lady Icers closed the 2004 portion of their season on Dec. 5 with a loss to Michigan. The team was set to begin the second half of its season with a two-game trip to face Buffalo, but the games were postponed because of a snowstorm.

This set the Lady Icers (4-7-3) up for a formidable task: coming off a month-and-a-half break to host No. 5 Western Michigan.

In Friday's game, the Lady Icers showed signs of that break affecting them, as Western Michigan jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period. Penn State looked unprepared for the plays that Western Michigan was throwing at it and was unable to control the Broncos' offense.

Penn State's luck didn't improve at all in the second period, as Western Michigan scored four more goals, increasing its lead to 8-1.

The third period saw Penn State playing at a higher level; the team looked to be adapting better to its opponent's play. As a result, the Lady Icers picked up two more goals, but by then the Broncos' lead had grown too large for the Lady Icers to overcome, with Penn State losing 11-3.

One of the biggest obstacles for the team was controlling the Broncos' Kelly Gimmelman, who had four goals and two assists in the game. The team's improved play in the third period, though, gave them reason to be optimistic for the next day's contest.

"We just had some adjustments to make and we did that in the third. We're going to continue to adjust and hopefully control the play more [Saturday]," Penn State assistant coach Erica Petrosky said.

Those adjustments were evident at the start of Saturday's game, as the Lady Icers looked much more prepared for Western Michigan and picked up two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. While the Lady Icers seemed to be in control for most of the first half of the game, the turning point occurred at the end of the second period.

With 34 seconds left in the second period and the two teams tied at 2, Western Michigan's MaryBeth Trainor scored an unassisted goal to give the Broncos the lead and the momentum going into the third.

The Lady Icers were unable to get any offensive production going in the final period. A power play goal with 10:06 left in the game brought the score to 4-3, but Western Michigan held off Penn State.

In the end, the game was a marked improvement from the previous night. Aside from Gimmelman, who had another two goals in the game, the Lady Icers were able to do a better job of containing a Broncos offense that had goals from eight different players on Friday.

Tentative shooting, though, held the Lady Icers back and the team feels that it will have to be much more aggressive in future games.

"We need to start shooting more," Penn State goalie Melanie Kleinmann said. "Too many times we're just waiting for the perfect shot."

With the difference in play between the first and second games, though, the team is feeling confident and is hopeful that it will bring its 'A' game when it travels to face No. 4 Rhode Island this weekend.

"Our play today shows a lot about our team," said senior forward Katie King, who had two goals this weekend. "Other teams would have just shut down, but we didn't."