The Ice Lions will have a new look when they return to Happy Valley for the spring semester.

Gone will be leading scorer William Brunner. The junior forward led the Penn State ACHA Division II Ice Lions in scoring for the first half of the season with nine goals and 19 assists.

Brunner, an accounting major, has accepted a co-op opportunity with Johnson & Johnson that will cause him to miss the team's games during the semester. Coach Mike Brinton said he encouraged Brunner to take the co-op.

The team will also lose forwards Chad Uddstrom and Steve Marchi.

Uddstrom, the team's eighth leading scorer, will be studying abroad next semester. Marchi has been battling a knee injury nearly the whole season and will have to sit out the rest of the year.

Injuries have hampered Marchi before. He was cut by the ACHA Division I Penn State Icers earlier in his career after undergoing surgery. This latest injury has cut the senior's hockey career at Penn State short. Brinton does not expect Marchi to return to the team at all this season.

To fill the empty roster spots, Brinton has added three players to the Ice Lions' lineup. Junior defenseman Dan Sidle, freshman defenseman Dan Baker and freshman forward Jim Recupero will join the team for the spring semester.

Brinton hopes that Recupero can be a viable scoring option. His hope is that the freshman can fill either Brunner or Uddstrom's spot in the lineup.

The coach expects Baker and Sidle to add depth to the team's defensive core.

Sidle, whose brother Kyle plays for the Ice Lions, was the MVP for Penn State Berks last season. He tallied 13 goals and 14 assists in 27 games last year for the Berks team.

"We expect him to bring some needed help to our defense in aid of puck movement," Brinton said. "He also has the big point shot that we have been missing on five-on-five and on the power play."

The Ice Lions return to action on Jan. 9, when they host No.1 William Paterson University at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.