Luke DeLorenzo lit the lamp more times than a light bulb last season.

He also took quite a bit, like the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers' Most Valuable Player and the league's Rookie of the Year awards, as well as the confidence of opposing goaltenders.

So far this season, DeLorenzo has been in a giving mood. He has provided his teammates better scoring chances and opposing defenses another reason to fear him. He still gives opposing goaltenders headaches too.

Through the season's first 11 games, DeLorenzo unsurprisingly ranks first in total scoring with 16 points for No. 3 Penn State. What is a surprise is how he has amassed those points. The sophomore center has only tallied three goals, but has more than made up for it with 12 assists -- including three in Saturday's 11-0 romp against Drexel.

"I don't think my role has really shifted," he said. "I still try to create offense."

DeLorenzo has done exactly that ever since he stepped foot in Happy Valley.

In his freshman year, the Export native scored 38 times to claim fourth place on the Icers' list for most goals in a single season. A year later, he has added to his repertoire by leading the team in assists.

But that doesn't mean that DeLorenzo is entirely pleased with his offensive production.

"I'm not scoring as much as I would like, and sometimes it is frustrating," he said. "You have to overcome it just like anything else and it is something that I have to play through."

The biggest reason for DeLorenzo's drop-off from this season to last is that opponents know what to expect from him.

As an anonymous freshman, he exploded onto the scene against unsuspecting teams and torched them. Nowadays, opponents do everything in their power to limit DeLorenzo's time with the puck, often by assigning their best defenseman to cover him.

So, instead of trying to overpower ever-watchful defenses, he has exploited them with another facet of his game.

"Now that he's getting all of the attention when they are focusing on him, he is concentrating on dishing the puck to the other guys, who are open, have more space, and are able to convert more," Icers head coach Scott Balboni said.

"You're seeing him end up with more assists because they are focusing on him a lot more than they did last year when they didn't know who he was."

Although DeLorenzo has taken exactly what defenses have given him, his teammates are confident that he will eventually collect his fair share of goals before the season's end. For now, however, they don't mind his new niche.

"He is obviously going to get his goals," junior forward Nate Obringer said. "He is definitely a big playmaker, and he is feeding other people and other people are helping with the scoring."

Even though DeLorenzo may be less than thrilled with his goal total, the only number the he truly cares about is the one that precedes his team, not the one of the stat sheet.

"As long as I can contribute some way in creating offense, and as long as we keep getting wins," he said, "that's all that matters."