A loss is never a good thing, but at times it can prove to be a learning experience.

The Windsor St. Clair Saints came into State College on Friday and used their advantages in size and strength to physically beat down the No. 3 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers. When the final horn sounded on the Saints' 4-0 victory, Penn State got its first taste of defeat since mid-October.

"No loss to me is ever a good loss," Icers head coach Scott Balboni said. "Did we learn some stuff? Yeah. We learned some stuff along the way. Unfortunately, it's the same lesson we learned at Robert Morris and that's every time we make a mistake against a good team, they capitalize."

When Penn State came back on the ice on Saturday, it looked like an entirely different team. The players weren't in any way intimidated by the team that handed them their first home loss since last season. The game plan didn't change, but the execution certainly did.

The intensity level was high from the opening face-off. The Icers were flying around trying to deliver big hits to match the physicality of their opponents. Most importantly, they were getting the bounces that weren't there on Friday with pucks finding the back of the net instead of clanging off the posts.

"We had so many chances [Friday] night. We thought we had goals, but it didn't work out, so it was nice to get some bounces [Saturday]," forward Mike McMullen said.

The result was a 5-3 Icers victory that salvaged a weekend split. Despite Friday night's loss, the team considered this weekend to be a success overall.

"We came out and we had the ability to fight back. We showed that we had a little bit of heart to come back. It was a little bit of a character win after we got beat up Friday," Balboni said.

Balboni used the term "gut-check win" to describe Saturday's victory. Instead of folding after a physically draining shutout loss, the Icers showed that they could hang with a good team.

In order to win a national championship, Penn State is going to have to beat the best competition the ACHA has to offer. Competing against an OHA team like the Saints provided a good measuring stick.

"We didn't play our best game, but we know where we stand with bigger guys and that helps us prepare for following weeks," forward Jaime Zimmel said.

The Icers have one game left before winter break. They will go into the second half with at least three losses, but a good deal of experience in big games.