Wild, Wacky Win

Well, that was certainly interesting! Saturday's showdown between Penn State and Delaware turned into a 6-0 Icers rout. Unfortunately, the game turned into a wild affair in a rough and tumble third period.

On Friday night the Icers got off to a slow start in the first period and stumbled out of the gate in the second before righting the ship and winning 2-1 in a 7-round shootout.

There would be no repeat on Saturday. The Icers and Blue Hens both came out strong, with end-to-end rushes both ways. But it was the Icers enjoying a 2-0 lead after one as Matt Kirstein notched his 3rd of the season and Marek Polidor counted his 11th.

Marek made it 3-0 early in the 2nd before Tim O'Brien and Dom Morrone worked a give-and-go for O'Brien's first short handed goal and 11th of the season. That goal sent Delaware goalie SJ Broadt to the bench and brought in Kurt Pflumm, who would not stick around for long.

Mike Broccolo beat Pflumm for his 5th of the season and Chris Cerutti added his second of the weekend, 10th of the season and his 3rd power play marker, giving the Icers a 6-0 lead after 2.

The third period turned into a free-for-all at 7:40, with the Blue Hens getting slapped with two 10-minute misconducts and a pair of game misconducts, including the aforementioned Pflumm.

Less than a minute after the officials restored order, Delaware's Rocky Romanella came unglued and was hit with a game misconduct and an unsportsmanlike minor, while the Icers were awarded a penalty shot.

Marek Polidor had a chance to get a hat-trick on the penalty shot, but he hit the post.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed the rest of the way, with just one more penalty called by referee Foreman.

With the win, the Icers improved to 17-2-1 on the season and 11-0-1 in ESCHL action, while Delaware dropped to 12-7-0 overall and 6-4-0 in conference play.

With Ohio taking 2 from top-ranked Lindenwood this weekend and Illinois dropping at least one splitting at home with Kent State, there will likely be a shakeup in the next ACHA coaches' poll that comes out in two weeks. How much of an impact the Icers' sweep of Delware will have remains to be seen.

Penn State will close out the first semester next Friday night when the Niagara Purple Eagles make their annual December trek to Happy Valley.