Penn State teams have been proving all weekend that a strong defense is crucial for success against quality opponents.

The Penn State ACHA Division I Icers (3-0, 2-0 ACHA) completed a weekend sweep against not only two ranked teams, but also Robert Morris, an NCAA Div. I school, with the help of some stellar defense.

Game pucks from the 3-2 win against the Colonials were handed to two defensemen: seniors Brendan Martin and Matt Wallace. In a game where Icers goalie Paul Mammola made 41 saves, it wouldn't seem as if the defense was much of a factor, but in the winning effort, quality of shots went much further than quantity.

"All the shots, I'd say they were all reasonable," Mammola said. "The D kept them at bay -- there were a lot of outside shots, all things I can handle, and I give the credit all to them.

"Our score was totally reflective of a group effort."

Keeping shots to the outside was also relevant for the Icers outstanding penalty kill on Saturday, holding the Colonials to 1-for-10 on the power play, and "blocking shots, doing the little things," Icers coach Joe Battista said.

In what could have been a turning point in the contest, Wallace went down to block a slapshot during a powerplay in the waning moments of the second period. He took the shot right in his chest. Wallace's sacrifice saved what could have been a huge shift in momentum heading into the final period.

"At the end of the period, if they score that's a momentum changer, instead when he blocked it, that just fired up our bench," Battista said. "He just gave up his body -- he took a slapshot from their best player right in the chest."

Battista had said earlier in the weekend that Wallace was a player who sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of big games. His consistency and solid defensive play is deserving of respect. The same is true of the rest of the unit.

"If you'd ask our goalies who they want in front of them -- they want Matt, cause he plays defense," Battista said Friday night after the Mercyhurst game. "Not to take anything away from the other guys, but he's just a guy, as a coach and especially as a former defenseman, that I appreciate what he brings to the team."

Perhaps the most telling statistic of the weekend was the unheard of ratio of shots taken, to those allowed by the Icers in Friday's 8-0 domination of No. 13 Mercyhurst. The Icers took more than 60 shots while only allowing 10 in their opening contest, blanking the Lakers in the process.

"We did a great job defensively; we didn't give up many quality shots," Battista said. "I thought we held them under 10 -- but officially it was 10."

The scoreboard showed nine shots at the end of regulation, and the goose egg in the goal column earned goalie Chris Matteo a relatively boring shutout.

"Hopefully Matteo can only see nine shots a game for a shutout," Martin said jokingly after helping lead the lock-down defensive play for the Icers.

The defense came to play again on Sunday, holding No. 14 Washington & Jefferson scoreless until around five minutes remaining in the game in the 5-1 victory. The late goal ended nearly 235 minutes of shutout hockey turned in by Matteo, who was between the pipes for the Icers again Sunday, dating back to the end of last season. The effort helped to cap off a great defensive effort all around for the Blue and White this weekend.

"Outstanding defensive hockey -- getting the puck out, blocking shots," Battista said. "They're our unsung heroes, those guys don't get the credit they deserve, and they just played so well."