Congratulations all around to the Penn State Icers who captured another ESCHL tournament championship.

Having already caputred the regular season ESCHL title last Friday (their 3rd straight) with a win against Drexel, the ESCHL tournament would have just been another fancy feather in the Icers’ cap.

Game 1: Semi-Finals vs West Chester Golden Rams (9-9-2)

As the top seed, Penn State was awarded a first round bye and found itself playing the West Chester Golden Rams (9-9-2) in the semifinal game. The Icers carried a 3-0-1 record against West Chester in the 4 previous times they’ve met during the regular season with them. The game was much grittier than expected as the Golden Rams fought back from a 2-1 first period deficit to tie the game up at 3 a piece heading into the final period. It wasn’t until Tim O’Brians’ 2 late goals (16:11 and 19:19) in the final quarter that put the Icers up for good.

Game 2: Finals vs Rhode Island Rams (21-10-3)

It was the Icers who found themselves down 2-1 following the first period and with this team’s second period woes that plagued them often this season, it simply did not look good. Sophomore forward Chris Cerutti had something different in mind. He scored 4 consecutive goals, 3 on power plays sparking the Icers to the win. Tim O’Brian added a fifth score of the period eventually putting the Icers out of reach. Penn State goalie Teddy Hume allowed 2 more goals in the final period but eventually held on for the 7-5 championship win.

The Icers have won the hat trick (2008, 2009, 2010) of ESCHL championships since the leagues’ creation in 2007-08. The league’s future looks shaky though, with Drexel and Navy leaving the league and Robert Morris joining next season. This leaves the ESCHL with just 5 members which would mean the league’s regular season champion, will no longer be awarded an automatic bid.

Don’t expect to see pictures of the Icers holding the silver bowl awarded to the league champions though. Following the victory, the team left the trophy sitting center ice per superstitions. They have just one cup they are truly interested in, the Murdoch Cup, a trophy they will play for as the #2 seed in the ACHA national tournament next month.

There are still 2 games to play against future ESCHL member and the host of this season’s national tournament, Robert Morris. It’ll be good for the Icers to get acquainted with the venue and ice before they play on it again in less than a month for the ACHA title.

The #2 Icers begins their quest for their 8th ACHA national championship starting March 6th against the Kangaroos of #15 SUNY-Canton. The Kangaroos (17-8-2) secured their ACHA tournament spot by finishing first in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League (ECHL). Should the Icers advance, they will play the winner of #7 Oklahoma/#10 Central Oklahoma on March 7th.

Take note playoff enthusiasts. An interesting take by Collegian writer Paul Casella on the concept of awarding automatic bids to each individual conference in the ACHA playoffs.

Let’s just hope the Icers can avoid a repeat of last year’s tournament. They were the #2 seed last year right behind #1 Lindenwood exactly like this season, but failed to make it past #4 Illinois in the semifinals. Illinois is the #4 seed again this year.