After suffering a defeat in their final game before heading to nationals, the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers went back to the basics.

In what Icers head coach Joe Battista called defensive boot camp, the team concentrated on defense and intensity for more than a week.

"We had a players meeting two Sundays ago and put it all on the table and just said, 'Screw it, you know, this is the time to do it,' " senior assistant captain Luc Walker said. "On the ice we're not going to be friends for a week, we're going to play like it's nationals. We're going to put our heads down, hit every time we can and finish our checks, stuff like that."

Practices became more intense, with premiums being put on defense and communication, Battista said. If players did not call for passes in drills, the entire team would get on the goal line and skate. Assistant captain Teague Willits-Kelley said the team's work ethic is now 10 times better than it had been before.

To further motivate the players, the coaches are now giving out a Penn State hardhat award at the end of each practice, an idea formulated by assistant coach Mo Stroemel.

"They sprung that on us after our first practice back after the [Nittany Lion Invitational Tournament]," assistant captain Brendan Martin said. "It's like whoever's busting their ass in practice, going above and beyond, diving for pucks, blocking shots, taking hits to get the puck out, things like that. It's just an individual recognition of someone working hard in practice."

The desire to earn that recognition spread through every line, every defensive paring and every goalie on the team as the Icers practices grew more intense.

"There's a group of guys that are always the hard workers, the bangers, who are always working hard trying to either stay in the lineup, or it's just their role," Willits-Kelley said. "But I see a lot of the other guys, who don't necessarily play the rough angle of it, the hard-nosed side of it, they're starting to get into it too because they want it."

The intense practices peaked with last Sunday's late-night practice, which Battista called the best of the year. That practice served as the culmination of a weekend of hockey and teambuilding events.

The Icers had an early practice, scrimmaging on Saturday morning, followed by a team meal and a long team meeting.

From there, the Icers moved to Holuba Hall for some teambuilding exercises organized by Walker.

"We had a little Olympic dry-land competition," Martin said. "We played some football, played some soccer, handball, just kind of getting the guys together a little bit, keeping them together over the weekend."

The competition was between three teams that were decided on where its players were from. Team Pittsburgh, Team Eastern Pennsylvania, and Team World squared off, with one of the highlights coming from Walker, the self-proclaimed "vulture," who kicked a 40-yard-plus field goal.

Before departing for the ACHA Division I National Championships in West Chester, the Icers were trying to stay loose.

"We had a terrific practice over the weekend," Battista said. "That's the last time we're really going to skate them hard.

"At this point we're just going to have a little fun with them. We do what we call the three-on-0 championships of the world."

This game featured a line of three players skating in on the goalie and trying to score three goals in the shortest amount of time, with all three coming back to the blue line for each new puck.

While the Icers may have taken a lighter approach to their practices this week than the high-energy sessions of the previous week, the players still worked hard with the games that were for fun. It is this kind of mix between hard work and enjoying the sport of hockey that has the Icers ready for nationals.

"We're as ready as we can be," Battista said. "It's just now dealing with everybody being patient until we get there."