After learning their fate for the national tournament last week, the Penn State Icers traveled to Rhode Island for the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) playoffs last weekend. Penn State fell to Delaware in the semifinals on Saturday.

The ESCHL playoffs started in 2007, with Penn State winning every tournament. For the first time, the Icers went in as something other than the top seed. Rhode Island won that honor, while Delaware took the second spot. Penn State went into the tournament as the three-seed.

The Icers scored first against Delaware on Saturday but could not hold on to their advantage. Chris Cerutti scored just 4:02 into the game for the only goal of the first period. In the second, Delaware scored twice to take the lead. With time running out in the third period, the Icers took out their goalie for an extra attacker. Penn State could not turn that advantage into a goal, and Delaware scored an empty-netter to win 3-1.

With the loss, the Icers fall to 20-10-1 on the season. Last week before the ESCHL playoffs, Penn State learned  that it would be the 10-seed in the national tournament. The Icers will take on conference-foe Rhode Island, who earned the seven-seed, on March 5. Win or lose, Penn State will play a second tournament game against either the two-seed Davenport or the 15-seed Rutgers on March 6.

Before the tournament starts, Penn State returns home for their final two regular season games. Rutgers will be the opponent for the Friday and Saturday matches. The game on Saturday will be senior night.

Upcoming schedule:

Friday: vs. Rutgers, 9 p.m.
Saturday: vs. Rutgers, 3:30 p.m.