The 2007 schedule came in like a lamb for the No. 2 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers (22-4-0, 20-2-0 ACHA). However, before Penn State travels to Youngstown, Ohio, for the ACHA National Tournament, it's going to have to play a lion's share of difficult games.

The Icers are 5-1 in their last six games, but they played only one team ranked in the ACHA's top 10 during that stretch (No. 10 Delaware). After his team dominated Pittsburgh last weekend, Penn State head coach Scott Balboni turned his focus toward what he considers to be a defining part of the season.

"I told the guys in our Monday meeting that up to and including Pitt, we played a lot of teams that we should have beaten this year," Balboni said. "We have a lot of tough games on our schedule now."

This weekend's games against unranked Duquesne are much bigger for Penn State than they appear. With their top defenseman and point-scorer back in the lineup for the second half of the season, the Dukes have started the year 3-0 and have outscored their opponents, 19-2.

"We had trouble with them even without the new players," Icers assistant captain Paul Zodtner said.

"So everyone is focused on this game and nobody is going to take them lightly."

After playing Duquesne, Penn State faces arguably its toughest stretch of the year. At the beginning of February, they will face Rhode Island at home and Ohio on the road on consecutive weekends.

Both teams will have revenge on their minds.

The Icers swept their two biggest rivals, No. 5 Rhode Island and No. 3 Ohio, during the first half of the season.

"Since we beat them twice this year, they're going to be out for blood," Balboni said.

The rest of Penn State's schedule includes games against Davenport, ranked No. 1 in ACHA Division II, No. 11 Oakland and Maryland. Balboni expects them to be hard-fought contests, but the team's biggest concerns are Rhode Island and Ohio.

"Rhode Island is going to be tough, and OU is going to be especially hard since it's at their place," defenseman Kyle Mills said.

"It's a really hostile environment there."

Penn State has been relatively healthy the entire season, adding to its success. Only defenseman Steve Thurston, who suffered a broken elbow that ended his season, is out of the lineup. As the national tournament draws closer, Balboni plans to scale back the training slightly to avoid wearing down his players.

Penn State is focusing on peaking at the right time to be able to win a national championship. The upcoming games should provide a good indicator of where the team stands.

"The easy part of our schedule is over now," Balboni said. "Now we're going to see what this team is made of on our way to nationals."

Notes from the WUG

The U.S. University Select Team played its last game of the preliminary round of the 2007 Winter World University Games yesterday, defeating Korea, 5-2.

Penn State players Mike McMullen and Keith Jordan scored goals in the winning effort.

Team USA compiled a 1-3 record during the preliminary round and will play in a seventh-place game today.