Following the No. 3 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers' narrow 4-2 victory at Duquesne on Saturday night, it was safe to say that head coach Scott Balboni was not in the best of moods -- and rightfully so.

After beating West Chester, 6-1, at home the night before with, what he deemed an "average performance," Balboni felt the Icers were downright uninspired for their meeting with the Dukes.

"It all comes down to that we took a team for granted. There was no question that, on paper, we should have been the better team. But our guys just didn't have it," he said.

"As much as we yelled and screamed, they just came out sluggish and were not ready to play whatsoever. They just figured they'd come out and roll right over them. Obviously, that didn't happen."

Despite his team's slow start, Balboni knew that things were wrong well before the puck dropped at center ice.

Prior to pre-game introductions, the Icers forgot to bring their water bottles out to the bench -- a precursor of things to come.

So it came as no surprise that, less than two minutes into the first period, the lowly Dukes (1-11-1) had taken a lead with a power-play goal.

Duquesne maintained its one-goal advantage through much of the game and well into the third period before Penn State finally rallied for the win on the strength of two goals from sophomore center Luke DeLorenzo.

Had DeLorenzo not provided the eventual game-winning tally, however, Balboni would have been livid.

Instead, the gut-check win was the silver lining in the Icers' poor performance.

It was also one of three wins in as many days, as they extended their winning streak to nine games with another close call against West Virginia, 2-0, last night.

"Unfortunately, right now, as a young team, we don't have any sense of urgency," he said. "I am really frustrated with that."