On paper, the Lady Icers appeared to have the advantage. On the ice, it was a different story.

The Penn State women's hockey team (4-5, 3-3 ECWHL) dropped two heartbreaking games to the Norwich University Cadets (4-0, 2-0) this weekend at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, losing 2-1 Saturday night and 4-3 yesterday morning.

All season, head coach Michael Brinton has been concerned about his team maintaining the same level of intensity throughout the game. On Saturday, his concern became reality. The Lady Icers suffered their first home conference loss of the season, failing to capture sole possession of first place in the ECWHL.

"We weren't ready to play," Brinton said. "Except for about 10 minutes in the second period and a couple in the third, we really played with no sense of urgency."

Trailing 1-0 in the second period, Penn State capitalized on the power play when forward Stephanie Doyle scored her third goal of the year and knotted the score at 1-1.

The Lady Icers narrowly missed several opportunities to take the lead late in the second period, however. Stealing the puck in the neutral zone, Chelsea Sacks skated around a defender and released a backhand shot that hit the post and deflected wide of the net.

A few minutes later, forward Ashleigh Kinder found herself on the breakaway after coming out of the penalty box. Her shot beat the Norwich goaltender, but failed to cross the goal line and was cleared by one of the Cadets.

Tied 1-1 late in the third period, the Cadets corralled a loose rebound and beat Penn State goaltender Melanie Kleinmann for the go-ahead goal. Despite a desperate attack in the waning seconds, Norwich held on for the victory.

"We had a good game plan, but we just didn't execute. We settled for weak, perimeter shots rather than quality shots," Brinton said. "We need to learn to play the whole game, not just bits and pieces."

Brinton's hopes for a better overall performance from his team didn't look promising early into yesterday's game. Norwich took advantage of a poor clearing attempt by Penn State and scored its first goal just 1:46 into the first period.

The Lady Icers took the early punch and rebounded nicely, tying the game at 1-1 with a goal from forward Jessica Waldron less than a minute later. The two teams traded goals and ended the first period tied, 2-2.

Midway through the second period, Norwich regained the lead when Penn State was unable to jump on a rebound in front of its net. But showing with the mark of a good team, the Lady Icers maintained their composure and didn't take long to respond, tying the score at 3-3 when Waldron deflected a shot from Sacks.

Unfortunately, the team failed to grab the lead and gave up a goal with only six seconds remaining in the second period.

Penn State dominated the third period, owning a distinct advantage in shots, but the squad was unable to slide one past the Norwich goaltender. With an extra skater and only 10 seconds remaining in the game, the Lady Icers failed to rebound a shot from forward Lauren Johnston and dropped another hard-fought game.

"We played much better, but we had some let downs in front of our own net that cost us the game. Our offense was buzzing, but we still didn't drive to the net. We kept settling for perimeter shots," Brinton said. "During practice, we go half speed, and it seems to take us awhile to get to full speed during games."

"We are going to be working hard this week, and this won't happen again," assistant coach Chadd Colin added.

The third consecutive loss for Penn State drops them below .500 for only the second time this season, and moves them into third place in the conference standings. The Lady Icers will host North Carolina State next weekend in their final home series before winter break.