Scott Balboni said this weekend would pose the first big test of the season for the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers. Unfortunately, one period of inspired hockey wasn't enough to satisfy him.
In what Balboni called a poor performance, the Icers (4-2-0, 4-2-0 ACHA) lost two games to Illinois, 5-4 in overtime Friday and 3-1 on Saturday at the Illinois Ice Arena.
"We played pretty poorly overall," the head coach said. "It was one of the worst performances I've seen in awhile."
He went on to say the No. 2 Illini's 125-foot wide rink really took a toll on his team. The ice is 40 feet wider than the Icers' home surface, so they were forced to adjust. Unfortunately, the adjustments were not made well enough.
"The bigger rink had a large impact," Balboni said. "We made a lot of mistakes we normally wouldn't have made on a normal rink and some of them really cost us."
Balboni said the losses also stemmed from undisciplined play and too many bad penalties. The Icers racked up 29 minutes of penalties in the first game and 16 in the second.
Junior goalie Nick Signet allowed more goals this weekend than in the previous four combined. He agreed the Icer miscues led to the losses.
"Taking a lot of penalties definitely hurt us," he said. "When we were down a man or two, they were able to take advantage of it."
This was apparent in the first game when Penn State junior Brandon Rubio took a five-minute major for a hit from behind. The Icers took another penalty, and the Illini capitalized on a momentum-killing power play.
Penn State's one shining spot of the weekend was the third period on Friday night when the Icers scored three goals, two of which came 32 seconds apart, to reclaim the 4-3 lead.
"The first two periods were awful," Balboni said. "But we regrouped in the locker room before the third and we came out as a team."
But, to the Icers' dismay, Illinois tied it with two minutes left to force the game into overtime.
The Icers hung on for most of the extra period until Illini senior defenseman Ricky Gomez scored the game-ending goal with only 18 seconds left, giving the Icers their first loss of the season.
Saturday's game proved to have even fewer positives than the first. Penn State played uninspired hockey allowing a goal in the first period and two in the second before freshman Tim O'Brien scored the Lions' lone goal off of a power play in the third.
Balboni reflected on both games and admitted the team played pretty poorly overall, but was optimistic about the upcoming schedule.
"They were tough games to lose," Balboni said. "But they were character builders, and right now we're just moving forward."
