The Penn State Lady Icers will be forced to swallow a bitter pill as their season comes to an end tomorrow.

The No. 14 Lady Icers (10-11, 4-8 ECHWL) will be facing the University of Delaware (5-4-1) at 9:15 tomorrow night at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion. A game against Syracuse that was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon is cancelled due to Syracuse's lack of a healthy team.

Because of their fall in recent rankings, the Lady Icers will be taking the ice for the last time tomorrow night. The Lady Icers were given a ranking of No. 14, despite their win over Maryland, thus eliminating their high expectations of going to Nationals. Head coach Michael Brinton found his team's ranking to be shocking but understands it was deserved.

"I was kind of shocked we pulled a No. 14. But, the last two weeks, we haven't helped ourselves at all with the losses against the University of Rhode Island and Bates College. We didn't give a clear cut reason as to why we should be invited to go to Nationals," he said.

The health of the team also has been questionable. The past weekend series against Buffalo seemed to have given reason to believe that the lack of health stood as one of the main reasons for the team's recent decline in success.

"We never really had control of the game against Buffalo. Their players took it to us. I believe the lack of practice time and not having enough players to put together a team were the reasons for not winning," Brinton said. "When the last day of the season came down, we just weren't well prepared."

Though it seems as if there are few things to remain optimistic about, both Brinton and his team plan on maintaining a healthy mindset.

It is known that tomorrow's game against Delaware will have no effect on the Lady Icers' postseason hopes. However, Brinton doesn't expect his team to play lackadaisically.

"I expect them to come out and play this team hard. I don't expect them to lose. I want them to fully take it to Delaware," he said.