Even after losing their final two contests by a combined 19-4 score, the Lady Icers were hoping good news was still on the horizon.
But in the final rankings of the 2008-09 season, the Lady Icers fell back one spot from No. 13 to No. 14, thus ending their hopes of gaining an ACHA National Tournament bid as only the top 12 teams are invited.
"It's sad. It would be a good opportunity," Lady Icers co-captain Chelsea Sacks said.
The Lady Icers found themselves in a struggle with three other teams -- No. 11 Western Michigan University, No. 12 University of Colorado, and No. 14 Ohio State --for the final two spots in the tournament.
On the final weekend of regular-season play, Ohio State beat then-No. 11 WMU. Penn State had previously beaten Ohio State in the season opener, but ACHA voters instead elected to place the Buckeyes in the final spot.
The second of the two highly contested spots in the national tournament fell to No. 11 Colorado.
While Stroemel said "it's not a huge disappointment" his team failed to reach postseason play, he did acknowledge the experience denied to his young team would have been beneficial.
"I kind of wanted to go this year to get the freshmen there," the Penn State coach said.
"It would have been nice to get the sense of the event out of the way and then we can worry about a hockey game."
Still, the Lady Icers put their best skate forward and spun the bad news ahead, all in accordance to Stroemel's three-year plan towards eventual success.
"Our plan all along has been looking at long term stuff, and I'm pretty sure we'll go next year," Stroemel said.
Lindenwood will enter the tournament as the unanimous No. 1, followed by No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 University of Rhode Island.
University of Massachussetts and Robert Morris College, respectively, round out the top five seeds.
With ACHA postseason play now gone, this weekend's ECWHL Tournament becomes the final action of the season for the Lady Icers, where they hope to end the season on a high note.
"We have more to look forward to for next year," assistant captain Alicia Leopore said.
