Looking at the scoreboard Saturday at the Greenberg Ice Pavillion, it might be easy to forget it was a hockey game.
When the final horn sounded at the Ice Pavillion bringing the game to end, the Penn State Lady Icers (1-1-1) had defeated Slippery Rock University, 13-0.
Three of the 13 goals came off the stick of senior Alicia Lepore, but in some ways the third one was bittersweet for her.
"Coach told me that if I got three goals I had to sit, so I didn't want it too bad because I didn't want to sit," Lepore said. "Obviously you always want to score more. I love seeing the scoreboard go up."
Lepore and her teammates got to see plenty of that on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore forward Michelle Clarke got the scoring started for the Lady Icers in their home opener off a rebound with 12 minutes and five seconds to go in the first period. Her teammates quickly followed with six more goals, giving the Lady Icers a 7-0 lead going into the first intermission.
It was all elementary from there.
The Lady Icers unleashed 64 shots on goal, and 10 different players found the net during the rout, including Lepore with her hat trick.
There were no signs of rust for the Lady Icers after three straight weeks without a game.
"We've had a lot of rest between the last game and this game which helped," Lepore said. "We've been working really hard in the weight room and at practice. It was all pretty much mentally preparing for a team that might not have been as good as we are."
With the game in complete control, coach Mo Stroemel wanted to see what some of his younger players were capable of, and they did not disappoint.
"In a game like this, what it means for us is that the freshmen gain a little more confidence and end up producing later on for us," Stroemel said.
Forward Samantha Summers was one of three freshmen who combined for four of the team's goals on the day.
"It was awesome," said Summers of scoring her first career goal for the Lady Icers. "It was great to score in the third game of the season and to do it at home."
The Lady Icers do not have long to enjoy the victory however, with a trip to Amherst, Mass., and a return to league play awaiting them next weekend.
"We have UMass next, which is a much different game than this," Stroemel said. "They're one of the toughest teams in the league. It's going to be a lot more physical than this was. They have much more highly skilled players."
The challenge that UMass will present is what kept the Lady Icers fighting hard throughout Saturday's game, despite the lopsided score.
"We got to focus on not just what we're doing today, but what we're going to be doing next week when we play a harder team," Lepore said. "We needed to play hard the whole game so that we're ready when we go to play harder teams."
