Going by the numbers, this weekend's games for the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers look like a potential Penn State blowout.
Head coach Scott Balboni thinks otherwise.
No. 2 Penn State will take on Navy today and tomorrow at McMullen Ice Arena in Annapolis, Md. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Penn State is coming off the heels of a blowout weekend in which it captured three victories, scored 18 goals and allowed only one score. The two wins against Scranton brought the team to 6-0 in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League.
On the flip side, the Midshipmen have lost their last four games while scoring only seven goals. They are 0-6 in the ESCHL, but Balboni is careful not to overlook that mark.
"It's a little deceptive from the standpoint that they're 0-6," Balboni said.
"They've played some real good teams and they just haven't finished a lot of their scoring opportunities."
One team Balboni alluded to was No. 3 Rhode Island. All of Navy's past four losses have come at the hands of the Rams, two of which were decided by a single goal.
After reviewing game tape, Balboni said another reason Navy doesn't draw attention is because it doesn't have any big standout players, but the Midshipmen work hard together and grind games out as a team.
"If they play well, they can beat anybody on any night," Balboni said. "And if we come with the mentality that we're just going to show up and win the game then I think we'll be in trouble."
Balboni said solid goaltending could help the Icers avoid falling behind. Currently, his philosophy is to start whoever he feels is playing the best and whoever is "hot."
Still, he doesn't think any of his goalies have separated themselves from the pack.
"It's a little difficult for me to make a decision right now because none of them have played poorly," he said. "I would probably expect to see more than one goalie this weekend, but I'm not sure yet."
Senior defenseman Keith Jordan said that in addition to solid goaltending, the team has to play more consistently and plan specifically to try to force Navy to alter its style of play.
"We pretty much know how they're going to play, and we're just basically trying to improve our game," Jordan said. "Because our philosophy is we're going make them adjust to us."
