It wasn't pretty. At times, it was even downright ugly. But the No. 2 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers avoided the pitfalls and closed the semester with a hard-fought, 3-2 win against Niagara University last night at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.

Goals from junior forward Sean Kenney and a score from defenseman Andrew Magulick, and another solid showing for sophomore goaltender Nick Signet, allowed the Icers to dispose of the pesky Purple Eagles and collect their 15th victory in the last 16 games.

Yet, despite continuing its impressive stretch of W's, Penn State (18-3-0, 17-1-0 ACHA) once again reaffirmed its status as one of the country's most inconsistent teams.

"Overall, I thought we had a very poor performance," head coach Scott Balboni said.

"I sound like a broken record, unfortunately. We came out and only played to the level of our opponent, and we let them take it to us a little bit when we should've taken it to them. We definitely weren't there tonight."

After two goals from Kenney built a 2-0 lead with more than 17 minutes remaining in the second period, the Icers went on a "Sunday skate," Balboni said, and allowed the Eagles to even the score by intermission.

When sophomore forward Jaime Zimmel was ejected for facemasking early in the third, the momentum seemed to sway in favor of Niagara (8-6-0). That's when Penn State stepped up and played like the No. 2 team in the nation.

After killing off two penalties, including Zimmel's five-minute misconduct, the Icers pulled ahead for good when Magulick ripped a blast past the Niagara goaltender at the 9:52 mark. The goal was not only the State College native's second of the season, but also it was one of his most memorable.

"I've played [at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion] since I was about four or five years old … and, as far as I can remember, that was one of the biggest goals that I have ever scored," said Magulick, who played hockey at State College High School.

Signet preserved the win for Penn State with some of his 23 saves coming in the final minutes.

The Icers will enjoy a 26-day break before they begin 2007 with three consecutive road games against West Chester (Jan. 10), Scranton (Jan. 12) and Delaware (Jan. 13). They will return home on Jan. 19 for two games against Pittsburgh.