The Penn State Icers lost their first game of the year against the highly ranked Ohio Bobcats on Saturday. The loss was part of a split series between these fierce rivals.

The first game on Friday was, for lack of a better term, a tale of two halves. Ohio dominated the first two periods but had only one goal to show for the efforts. The Icers were able to find their form in the third period, however. Dan Loucks scored on a power play four minutes into the third to tie the game at one. Three minutes later, Taylor Cera capitalized on the Icers’ momentum and gave Penn State the lead, 2-1. The Icers would hold on for the win, with Dominic Morrone adding an empty-net goal to give Penn State a 3-1 win.

Penn State got slightly lucky to win Friday night, but that luck would not translate to success on Saturday. The Icers scored first on a power-play goal from Marek Polidor, but Ohio would score five consecutive goals over the first two periods to put the game out of reach. Morrone and Tim O’Brien scored goals for Penn State, but it was not enough in the 6-3 defeat.

The Icers have a record of 6-1 in a strong start to the season. Penn State faces another tough test this week with a two-game series against 15th-ranked Liberty.

Upcoming schedule:

Thursday: vs. Liberty, 7:30 p.m.
Friday: vs. Liberty, 9 p.m.