In a weekend rife with adversity, the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers were able to overcome it all. The No. 3 Icers captured two more wins, 5-1 on Friday and 4-1 Saturday, in an away set with No. 2 Rhode Island.
After a seven-hour bus ride, Penn State came into the hostile Brad Boss Arena Friday night looking to extend a six-game winning streak.
Junior forward Luke DeLorenzo said it was a tough and exciting environment to play in, which made it one of his favorite venues.
"The crowd sits right behind our bench and it was hard to get over the loudness," he said. "They had huge horns and they called out our names and taunted us all night."
Despite having the crowd on its side, Rhode Island was unable to stifle a quick and physical Penn State team that scored nine goals in the two nights combined. Icers coach Scott Balboni said preparation and execution were key to the wins.
"We did well with our systems and we did a great job counteracting the systems of Rhode Island," Balboni said. "We had good game plans going into the weekend and our preparation and scouting really paid off."
The wins were important for the Icers in more ways than one. With the latest ACHA Divison I rankings coming out on November 16th, Penn State will likely swap places with Rhode Island, bringing it closer to its original No. 1 ranking it started out with in the beginning of the season.
The wins also showed the Icers can rely on their depth to come through against tough opponents. Five starting Icers players did not make the trip because of injury or family engagements.
"It really showed the depth and the skill of our bench," DeLorenzo said.
"It proved that any one of our players can step up and contribute when the team needs it."
The remaining starters also did a solid job in filling roster gaps. Senior forward Sean Kenney scored two goals in Friday's game while DeLorenzo and junior forward Jaime Zimmel each scored goals in both games. Junior forward Frank Berry and senior forwards Michael McMullen and Brian Sobonya also added veteran leadership in scoring goals.
Balboni had specific plans for Kenney's line, which he refers to as "The Black Line" because of the black jerseys the line wears in practice.
He wanted to pit it against the Rams' best line for defensive purposes. He was pleasantly surprised when it gave a surge to the Icer offense.
"We came in pitting Kenney's line against their top line in hopes of shutting them down [defensively]," Balboni said.
"Then he ended up scoring two goals which was a plus that we hadn't anticipated."
Penn State also relied heavily on the play of its goaltenders, which only allowed two goals all weekend. Junior Nick Signet started Friday's game and freshman Edward Hume manned the goal on Saturday. Balboni said the team couldn't have won without them.
"They made saves at key times and did a good job on a lot of break away power-play situations," said Balboni. "They allowed two goals all weekend but they played better than even that score reflected."
The weekend sweep brought the Icers' record to 12-1-2 and ended their six-game road trip. The Rams and Icers will square off again in early February in a two game set in Happy Valley.
