If the No. 3 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers expect to make their 11th straight national title game, they are going to have to beat some familiar foes.
The bracket for the ACHA National Tournament has been set, and the Icers (31-3-4) begin the tournament Saturday with No. 14 West Virginia, a team Penn State has already beaten twice this season.
If the Icers win, they will face the winner of No. 6 Liberty and No. 11 Kent State. Penn State beat Liberty in the first game of its series earlier this year, but the Flames won the rematch, 5-4, in overtime.
Penn State coach Scott Balboni said Kent State may pose the biggest threat to his team because it's the only tournament opponent the Icers haven't played this season.
"You can't take any opponent for granted, but it absolutely helps us that we've played these teams already this year," senior co-captain Keith Jordan said. "We will be able to watch tapes of the games to see what we did well and poorly, and we can watch how our special teams matched up against them."
The Icers fell to third in the final ACHA rankings following two losses to Delaware, but had no problem joining Iowa State as the only teams to reach all 17 ACHA National Tournaments.
Penn State is also carrying a streak of 10 consecutive ACHA National Championship game appearances. The Icers have lost the last four championship games, but still boast five national titles in the last decade. In the 16 previous ACHA tournaments, the Icers have made 12 finals appearances.
"I don't think they have a target on their backs per se, but they're the team in our bracket to watch for," Kent State coach Jarrett Whidden said. "If we get to play them we won't change our philosophy, though. We will force them to play our kind of game."
The upper-half of the bracket includes unbeaten No. 1 Illinois and ESCHL powers No. 4 Delaware and No. 8 Rhode Island. The Illini and Blue Hens handed the Icers their only three regulation losses of the season. Penn State will not have to face either of those team unless one reaches the championship game.
Defending champion Oakland stunned the ACHA last season by winning the national championship as the 10th seed and comes in as the No. 12 seed this year.
Two new teams made the field of 16 this year, as Western Michigan and Stony Brook will compete in their first national tournament.
Balboni said the bull's-eye is on his team's chest as everyone will be looking to end its historic streak.
"It's going to take an awful lot of work and luck along the way," he said.
"It puts a lot of pressure on us in the first couple games against teams we are superior to on paper."
