Last Friday night as the No. 3 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers took the ice for warm-ups, senior goalie Nick Signet skated right toward the net while sophomore Teddy Hume went to the corner and began stretching.

After five straight starts for the sophomore, in which Hume went 4-1, Signet was back in goal for both games against the No. 8 West Chester Golden Rams.

"My idea at the beginning of the year was to have one goaltender," coach Scott Balboni said. "Just get that one goalie hot and stick with that guy, but I've kind of changed my philosophy a little bit."

Part of the reason for that change Balboni said was the Denver University hockey team that won the 2005 NCAA championship.

"They played two goalies every weekend the entire year, including straight through the finals," Balboni said.

Lately, however, both goalies have struggled to hold the puck on the initial shot attempt. Rebound control has been a noticeable weakness from both goaltenders and Balboni said the team is working to fix that problem.

At the beginning of next semester, Darren Hirsch, who runs his own goalie academy and is a former goaltender himself, will be coming in to work with the netminders, focusing on their ability to control rebounds.

So far this season, both Hume and Signet have started eight games for the Icers, with Hume posting a 7-1 record and Signet going 5-3.

Who starts each game is often not decided until very late in the week, as Balboni said he still does not know who will be starting Friday night against Niagara.

"It's just about working hard in practice," Signet said. "You've got to treat every practice as if it's a game situation and really battle out there. You know it's a week-to-week thing when it comes to who's in goal right now with Coach."

Records alone do not tell the story, however, as Balboni said a lot of other things have played into the outcome of those games including the opponent and the defensive play from the Icers.

"They're both playing solid on the first stop and they're both, positionally, good goaltenders," Balboni said. "And they're both competing real hard right now. The biggest thing is just not giving up those second opportunities, which is something the defense has to help with too if Teddy or Nick do give up those rebounds."

Although both goaltenders recognized rebound control as their main weakness right now, Hume said there is something else that has been bothering him about his own game.

"Right now, I'm just letting in too many goals that are stoppable," Hume said. "Not necessarily bad goals, but they're definitely stoppable goals. So, I really just need to tighten up my game right now."

As far as his initial philosophy about finding one goalie who stands out and earns the goalie position for the rest of the year, Balboni said he's not so sure anymore.

"I'm not leaning one way or the other right now about having one guy step up or just using two goaltenders the rest of the year, though," he said. "We're just going to have to kind of wait and see on that."