12 I FRIDAY, FEB. 5, 2010 Andrew Dunheimer Collegian Tim O'Brien (10) chases down the puck Jan. 15 against Ohio. The Icers can clinch the regular season title this weekend with wins over URI. Penn State, Rhode Island meet for conference title By Tom Copain COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The No. 2 Penn State Icers have three season goals this year. Win the ESCHL regular season title, win the conference tourna ment and win the ACHA nationals. The Icers have two weeks until the ESCHL tournament and about a month before nationals. But Penn State can come closer to crossing one of its goals off the list when it faces No. 10 Rhode Island this weekend for its third straight regular season title. "It's gonna be a big weekend." Con A•*. A.* • 237 SIMPLY 7AN Saturday & Sunday Specials Through End of February: $3 Low Pressure Tan $7 VHR Tan .PARTY 4,, FAVORITES O P` R ‘k DELIVERED F THE BIG GAME LI Large Buck', lr ifte Y De r red rT f AM Menu wettable Ff Delivery *own your WI iiiihronco to 1 7 ' Ome for small or large orders 4•861• RIBS www.prospectors.net °*eaalS rospect 208 0 0 AVE. junior forward Tim O'Brien said. "We know we have to get two wins to take the No. I seed, basi cally. That's some thing that I said before was a goal at the beginning of the year. and hopefully we can continue and reach that first goal The first goal Balboni might have seemed improbable back in October, when the leers were struggling after splitting series 'Kiwi reimin Order Food @ powered by State College. corn • .ap, • Lfli GO TO PStgtOLLEGIAN.COM Undefeated PSU set for Fifteen times the Penn State leers have taken their home ice this season. They've faced teams throughout ICERS the ACHA, some ranked higher than others, but the opponents all have one thing in common. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the third period, they all exited the ice on the losing end of the contest. Penn State's streak has with stood disallowed goals. near miss es, overtime and shootout wins and will once again be tested this weekend as Rhode Island heads to Happy Valley, where the home streak will be put on the line with a title at stake. The matchup features the top two squads in the ESCHL, with the leers a point behind the Rams in the standings, making this with Ohio and West Chester. It wasn't until the first Rhode Island series in November that Penn State started to click. The leers had lost two games in October before Rhode Island. They've only lost two games since. was a great early win on the road against a good team," defenseman Steve Thurston said of the Rhode Island wins. - Did a lot for our confidence. A lot of the young guys played well in it. It's always good to come from behind. It's harder to come from THE BRONZE "Pea fan of an indoor tan Ira n units to choose from Mystic Tan, Orbit Onyx, Suncapsu le, Ergolin e, and Sunvision! NO MEMBERSHIP FEES MYSTIC TAN - 3 Sessions for thslimiteri Packaffs as low as Collegian Presents The Collegian Chronicles: Hundreds of pages of fun, sports, history and photos of Penn State. Looking for a truly unique gift? Check out The Collegian Chronicles! The Chronicles is a lively look back at the history of Penn State as seen through the pages of The Daily Collegian from 1887 on. We cover national championships, the Heisman Trophy, panty raids, campus unrest and everything in between. Come along for the ride and help support Collegian scholarships! Find The Collegian Chronicles at Old State Clothing Co. Only $19.99 All proceeds go to the Collegian Alumni Interest Group Scholarship Fund. 101 E. Beaver Ave. 814-234-1415 SPORTS By Tom Kinslow COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER r• "MOW • 111 li2L Baas An. 239-101 [iisiz=lin: Ueda the Radar Ain Ted tad the Hifi** 10:30-Clost --rwinsAt.**- SI Coors Lire Duff; Used Midsolta 1/2 price everytkies 7-9 pm Behind OLDSTATE.COM OLD STATE CLOTHING CO on home ice, big weekend weekend's series almost a de facto championship. With that in mind, the leers expect a large and exuberant crowd but won't let it distract them from the task at hand. "A lot of the guys who played last year and years before are coming back, so that should be fun, - forward Tim O'Brien said. "But those are just side things, and we're going to take this just like any other weekend even if there's 150 people in the stands. We've got to get two wins, and our first step is Friday night." As the two teams fight for the ESCHL regular season crown, Rhode Island is also fighting for its life in the national picture. The Rams are ranked 10th in the ACHA, and failing to get the automatic bid as league champion could keep Rhode Island on the outside looking in. "The way we've been playing, every weekend's a big weekend for us," Rhode Island coach Joe Catch the latest Icers news by following the Collegian's Twitter feed: twitter.com/Collegian_lcers i 173 behind, so when you do it means a lot.- The two wins in November gave Penn State an important tiebreak er that could come into play. Coming into the weekend, the Icers and Rhode Island are locked at the top of the ESCHL stand ings. Each team can clinch this week end with a pair of regulation wins. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Augustine said about his team. - We haven't been playing well. In fact, right now I've got nine guys with the flu. so we just have to get healthy and go down and hopefully do the best we can." With so much surrounding the series. Penn State expects a play off atmosphere all weekend long between the two teams. Coach Scott Balboni said he believes these two contests will be the most physical the Icers will have seen all season. "They need to move up in the rankings to assure themselves to get to nationals. Plus they can sure up the league. so I'm sure they'll be coming out for blood." Balboni said. "I think it's a situation where we want to win the league and we want to be in the top couple spots at nationals so we get the best seed. There's a lot riding this weekend." To e-mail reporter: tpksol6@psu.edu If the Jeers split. then they will need only to split with Drexel next weekend to seal the title. A regular season title means the Icers will be the No. 1 seed going into the conference playoffs and a first round bye. "Our goal is to achieve all three of those goals this year, going into the year," Penn State coach Scott Balboni said. - The first step of it is sewing up the league title, which we have the ability to do if we can win two games this weekend.- To e-mail reporter: tecso26@psu.edu +4. „4444 Ar a" - - - -- ) OttlP& Kota sweet a 7e/ .Heag-660 Ch.& Cty Yletket, Cotia ttip, -pannStategakv, WWWIFS.PSU.EDU/BAAIRY • 814.863.5611. 6-7"; - II 64111
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