Modest Mouse's "Float On" piped through the speakers at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion while the No. 1 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers unceremoniously skated off.
Like always, there was no post-game pageantry, nor was there a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd to celebrate Penn State's home and regular-season finale.
Instead, once the final buzzer sounded, the fans slowly filed out for the last time this year and the Icers quietly retreated to their locker room after thoroughly dismantling the Maryland Terrapins, 9-1, Friday night.
For Penn State (28-7-0, 25-5-0 ACHA), its 16th home win did not mark the end to anything. Rather, it officially began its run toward an elusive eighth national championship.
"We played all week like this was the first game of the national tournament. That's how we practiced and that's what we talked about all week," Penn State coach Scott Balboni said.
"[Friday] was the first game of nationals, not next Wednesday."
If that's the case and the Icers' performance on Friday night is a precursor of things to be expected this week at the ACHA National Tournament in Youngstown, Ohio, then the rest of the 16-team field should be cautioned.
Looking to avenge a road loss at No. 10 Oakland last Sunday, Penn State delivered one of its most dominating and complete wins of the season against Maryland this weekend.
Behind yet another solid showing from senior goaltender Chris Matteo, the Icers simply out-everythinged -- outshot, outhit, and out-hustled -- the Terrapins to assure that they would enter the postseason on a positive note and not a losing streak.
"We played hard, we played aggressive and we didn't let up at all," said senior forward Mike McMullen, who scored two goals.
McMullen and his Red Line companions, sophomore forwards Luke DeLorenzo and Frank Berry, led Penn State in the offensive zone by combining for five goals and two assists. DeLorenzo contributed three goals -- his first hat trick of the year -- to up his team-leading total to 19.
The overall performance from the highly productive line headlined the Icers' seventh victory in their last 10 contests and prompted Balboni to say that it was the line's "best game of the year."
"That's the key for us going into nationals: those three guys playing at their highest level," he added.
Fortunately for Balboni and Penn State, the circle of Icers playing their best as the postseason encompasses more than just McMullen, DeLorenzo and Berry.
"I think we're all playing at our peak right now," sophomore forward Steve Peck. "We're playing our best hockey of the year right now and it's a good sign heading into nationals."
The No. 1-seeded Icers will face No. 16 Robert Morris (Pa.) at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the opening round of the national tournament. If Penn State advances to the second round, it will meet either Liberty or Kent State on Thursday.
