The No. 3 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers (16-2-0, 16-1-0 ACHA) have been unstoppable of late, putting together a string of victories that date back to Oct. 21.

This weekend, they were not about to let visiting No. 11 Delaware (9-5-2) stand between them and their 12th and 13th consecutive wins.

On Saturday, an offensive outburst, highlighted by a Nate Obringer hat trick, gave the Icers a 10-3 win. Penn State defeated the Blue Hens by a score of 3-1 on Friday night. They are unbeaten at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion this season.

"It's real nice to have a streak going, but we're taking this real business-like," forward Frank Berry said.

On Friday night, the Icers were frustrated early by the solid play of Delaware goalie Jim Depfer. They registered 18 shots in the first period, but were unable to put one in the net.

In the second period, with the Icers on the penalty kill, forward Matt Schwartz stole the puck in the neutral zone and buried a breakaway goal to give the Icers the 1-0 lead. Shortly after, Blue Hens forward Kevin Neeld tied the game at 1-1 with an even-strength goal.

The third period, however, belonged to Penn State. Forward Lukas DeLorenzo scored a power play goal from Obringer less than a minute into the period. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, defenseman Keith Jordan netted another power play goal to put Delaware away for good.

The Icers had 50 shots in the game, which was the biggest reason they were able to overcome the stellar play of Depfer.

"We knew he was one of those goalies who could stand on his head and control the game by himself," DeLorenzo said.

"We knew we had to get shots on him. We knew we had to keep pressuring in front. After the first goal went in it kind of snowballed from there."

Saturday's game remained extremely close early on. With 13:15 left in the second period and the Icers leading, 3-2, Delaware was given a major opportunity to climb back into the game with a score. Penn State forward Jaime Zimmel checked Blue Hens defenseman Rich Galgano from behind, leaving him down on the ice for several minutes. The hit drew a five-minute major penalty and an ejection, giving Delaware and extended power play.

The Blue Hens couldn't get anything going with the man advantage, though, and Penn State took full advantage by scoring three goals within five minutes of the penalty expiring.

Icers head coach Scott Balboni said that penalty kill gave his team the momentum it needed. While Delaware deflated from having its best players on the ice for the power play, Penn State fed off the energy of the crowd and responded.

By the end of the game, the Icers had tallied 10 goals, the second time this year they have reached the double-digit goal mark. Obringer led the charge with his second hat trick of the season.

"I'm just trying to get open and bury the puck when I get the chance. I was in a slump for a little while, so it's nice to have a game like that where you can break out and score some goals," Obringer said.

Brandon Rubeo, DeLorenzo, Sean Kenney, Schwartz, Mike Diethorn and Steve Peck also scored as part of the Icers' offensive outpouring.

With only three games remaining before the month-long winter break, Balboni is hoping his team is starting to reach its potential.

"It's still a long season," he said. "There's a long way to go, but we're playing well now and hopefully that will carry on."