For the first time in more than three weeks, the Penn State Lady Icers (5-6, 3-3 ECWHL) will get Saturday night off.

The Lady Icers will play only once this weekend, facing the University of Virginia at 10:45 Sunday morning at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.

Head coach Michael Brinton said this break could not have come at a better time, as they have played games on both Saturday and Sunday for the past three weeks.

The difficulty of playing on Sunday morning was evident in last weekend's series with Massachusetts.

Last Saturday night, Brinton said the team played a disciplined, aggressive game, winning, 4-2.

However, the team struggled the next day, losing 5-1 in a performance that Brinton said was sloppy, tired and lazy.

Brinton said that the off day will help cure the team's Sunday morning woes.

"It will allow us to have a full two days of rest between our last practice and our first game," he said. "I think we're gonna come out flying on Sunday, whereas the last few Sundays we've come out sluggish."

The game with Virginia also brings a break from ECWHL league play, and although the Virginia has played to a 4-1 record, Brinton said their record is misleading. It has not played a difficult schedule thus far, with only two of its wins coming against ACHA opponents. The lone defeat was a 9-2 blowout against a mediocre American team.

"I personally am not expecting a team where I am going to need my A game from every single player to beat them," Brinton said about Virginia.

The team continues to get strong contributions from its underclassmen, with freshman Alicia Lepore leading the team with 31 points. Last year's leading scorer, Jess Waldron, has rebounded after missing the first part of the season with pneumonia and now is second on the team with 17 points.

Goaltender Gena Goldbaum has also been contributing heavily, especially against Massachusetts, when Brinton said she was, "on her A-plus game."

The continued solid play of players like Goldbaum and Lepore has Brinton feeling confident about the immediate future.

"I don't believe we should lose another game this semester," he said.