The Penn State ACHA Division I Icers broke their routine of intense practice yesterday in preparation for their second midweek game of the season.
The No. 2 Icers (24-1-4, 14-0-0 ESCHL) will square off at 8 tonight against No. 18 Washington and Jefferson (19-9-1) at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, a game that begins a stretch of seven games in 15 days for Penn State.
"We play five games in seven days and in nationals, we'll have to play four games in five days," senior forward Luke DeLorenzo said. "It'll give guys the chance to understand what toll having that many games in that many days will take on their bodies."
Penn State held an optional skate yesterday for the players who wished to see a little more ice time before their second midweek game of the season. More than half the team showed up, with most taking the ice for almost two hours, the regular length of the Icers' practice.
Assistant coach Matt Bertani said that even though the Icers don't know much about Washington and Jefferson, the purpose of the free skate was to work on little things like one-timers, which the players believed would help tonight.
"They've won some good games, but we don't know much about [Washington and Jefferson]," Bertani said. "But we know they're well coached and they're going to be ready to play."
The Icers may have a significantly better record and schedule, but the young leading point scorers for both teams match up nearly perfectly. The Presidents' leading scorer is sophomore Ryne Savisky, who has 43 points overall and 16 goals. In comparison, Penn State's leading scorer is freshman Tim O'Brien, who has racked up 40 points and 15 goals this season.
The Presidents lost to Penn State the last three times they played, the most recent game being a 4-3 defeat last season in which current junior Icer forward Jaime Zimmel scored the game-winning goal in the final 20 seconds.
Penn State's first midweek game this season ended in a 6-0 victory for the Icers at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. DeLorenzo said tonight's game will be similar and the team would use the experience from its most recent game against Washington and Jefferson.
"You can never overlook a team and what they've done in the past," he said. "Even though it's a Wednesday game, we have to go out there and treat it like any other game on any other day of the week."
