The Icers entered the weekend with three goals in mind: Keep the momentum up from Friday into Saturday, register more than 50 shots and hold the opposition to less than 20.
They accomplished all three.
The Icers started their season with back-to-back victories over the Scranton Royals this past weekend. And the Icers did something they struggled with last season: Maintaining momentum from the previous night and winning the next day.
"Last year that was one of our downfalls," forward Brandon Rubeo said. "We'd always have big Fridays, kinda dominate teams; Saturday, we'd come out shaky at best."
Icers coach Scott Balboni was also pleased his team didn't let up, saying last year, Penn State had a tendency to allow weaker opponents back in the game.
Balboni liked that his team kept moving the puck and doing the little things correctly on Friday.
And, initially, it seemed like the Icers were doomed to repeat last season's second-day fallout. Saturday's first period saw 11 Scranton shots on goal, compared to only 18 shots in the entire game on Friday. The first period was a wake-up call, and Balboni let the team know that during the first intermission.
"I just told them in the locker room that they had to bear down a little bit and come ready to play in the second period because they didn't the first period at all," Balboni said. "I used some choice words and stuff and they got the message, and they came out a lot harder."
The rest of the game was much different as the Icers had 20 shots on goal compared to Scranton's four in the second period. Penn State goalie Nick Signet dominated the net, shutting out Scranton in the time he played over the weekend. Signet knew the intensity was down in the first but was happy to see his team turn it around.
Signet admitted the team had a little mental lapse in the first, and the Icers knew they had to step it up a notch. Penn State registered 20 shots compared to Scranton's four the next period.
Staying focused also helps them to come out strong both games, forward Lukas DeLorenzo said.
