Unstoppable and explosive.

These were some of the words used to describe Luke DeLorenzo during his freshman season.

In his first year, he led the ACHA Penn State Division I Icers in total scoring and tallied 38 goals to rank fourth on the team's all-time single-season list.

A year later, the adjectives haven't been as positive.

Snake-bitten and frustrated have been more like it for the slumping sophomore forward -- until this past weekend.

With No. 3 Penn State (12-2-0, 12-1-0 ACHA) trailing in the third period against one-win Duquesne, DeLorenzo finally ended the drought, tying the game on his fifth goal this season.

"He came back to the bench with a big smile and I think it was more a sign of relief that he was finally able to put one in the net," Balboni said.

The score also alleviated some of the pressure weighing heavily on DeLorenzo's shoulders and was his first in at least seven games.

Although he still paced the Icers in scoring with 14 points (four goals and 10 assists) through the first 11 games, DeLorenzo's name has often absent from the goal column on the score sheet -- and that smile has often absent from his face.

"I was getting very frustrated because I wasn't scoring as much as I would have liked to," he said.

Maybe it was the increased focus from opposing teams that didn't know what to expect from the youngster last season. Maybe it was that he was simply pressing too much to score. No matter the reason, it was clear that DeLorenzo was not pleased with his early production.

"He was putting a lot of pressure on himself, and he was getting upset a little bit," head coach Scott Balboni said. "Luke has had an awful lot of chances and just hasn't been able to capitalize."

But his goal against Duquesne wouldn't be the last time he was able to capitalize during the weekend.

On his next shift, he notched the eventual game-winning goal to keep the Icers' winning streak alive.

"I was just trying to have a little spark and help the team out," DeLorenzo said. "If you ask anybody who has had trouble scoring, that the first one, no matter how it goes in, will help take the pressure off. The first goal really helped me loosen up the stick a little bit."

DeLorenzo's "little spark" turned into a raging inferno and continued to burn through Sunday's meeting with West Virginia.

As Penn State clung to a 1-0 lead against the Mountaineers, he iced the victory with an empty-net goal -- his third goal in two days -- in the waning seconds. The tally gave DeLorenzo seven goals on the year and instilled some much-needed confidence.

"It was big for him, and it was obviously big for the team because we needed someone to step up," senior forward Mike McMullen said.