The ACHA National Tournament doesn't start until Wednesday, however, the No. 1 Penn State Division I Icers (27-7-0, 24-5-0 ACHA) plan to begin their quest for an eighth championship earlier than expected when they take on the Maryland Terrapins tonight at 9 in the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.

With the Icers assured the No. 1 seed in the tournament, it may seem unnecessary to risk injury to key players against a team that didn't even make the 16-team playoff.

Head coach Scott Balboni sees things differently and said that he is not going to allow his team's level of play to drop.

"We're going in [tonight] playing with our nationals lineup," Balboni said. "We're looking at it like it is the first game of nationals to make sure we have all our systems down and all our personnel ready to go."

Last Sunday, Balboni rested some of his regulars in a 4-1 loss to No. 11 Oakland.

However, tonight is going to be Penn State's last chance to prepare in a game situation before it leaves Tuesday for Youngstown, Ohio.

Balboni said that his lines, defensive pairings and special teams units will all reflect his projected lineup for next week.

The Icers don't plan to play hesitantly on the ice, as they are approaching this game with a do-or-die attitude.

"Our guys are going to be really focused," Penn State forward Matt Schwartz said. "I'm not really worried about the way we're going to come out. I think we'll be fine."

Schwartz said that the Icers were more concerned with their own play in the upcoming game than that of their opponents. They haven't played Maryland before and don't have any game film on the Terps, but Schwartz said that Penn State should be able to "put them away handily."

"Honestly, I don't know much about [Maryland] other than the teams they've played and some of the scores they've had," Balboni said. "I'm just trying to get our team at the top end of our game with all our systems. We're going to go out and roll through our systems, and we're not even going to worry about them at all."

Before tonight's game, which is the last home contest of the season, the Icers will honor their two seniors, goaltender Chris Matteo and forward Mike McMullen. Other than an intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday, Penn State will not have any other competitive opportunities until the national tournament begins.

Balboni pushed the team hard in practice this week to ensure that they're prepared for the rigors of the tournament, in which it will have to win four games in five days to capture the ACHA title.

Forward Sean Kenney is one of the players who realizes that a good week of practice and a well-played game tonight could pay dividends when the results truly count. On Tuesday afternoon, he looked forward to the upcoming events.

"Today's the day it starts," Kenney said. "We're going to take it just like it's a nationals game. We're going to try to get rolling and just try to roll right over them."