Everyone sat there in a stunned silence, as an odd, empty numbness spread over the crowd.

Did that really just happen?

Coming into Happy Valley with only one loss itself, No. 2 Illinois (23-1-0) knocked the Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers (19-2-1) from the lofty perch as the ACHA's only remaining unbeaten team, with the Fighting Illini taking Friday's contest 5-2 and then grabbing the Saturday afternoon dogfight, 5-4.

In beating the Icers, the Illini avenged last year's 6-0 loss to Penn State in the finals of the ACHA National Tournament and snapped the Icers' 26-game unbeaten streak that stretched back to Feb. 9 of last year. It also marked the first time the Icers were on the short end of the score at the Ice Pavilion since losing 3-2 to Delaware last season on Feb. 1, a span of 14 games.

On Friday night, the Icers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when junior forward Brendan Roache scored at the 8:31 mark in the first period.

Illinois, however, flew around the ice at the start of the second period, and scored the go-ahead goal when Rogers beat Graham with a wrist shot to the stick side with just 3:05 gone. Later in the period, Rogers scored his third goal of the night during an Illini five-on-three power play to give his team a 4-1 advantage.

The Icers were unable to get any closer than 4-2, thanks in large part to the impenetrable Danlow, whose flop save on Penn State freshman forward Brett Wilson near the 9:15 mark in the third period staved off any type of Icers comeback. Illinois added an empty-net goal to finish off the scoring.

"We played a little flat," said Penn State assistant coach Mike McNeill, who has assumed the head coach role in the absence of head coach Joe Battista. "We played a seven for Penn State hockey, we needed a 10."

On Saturday, the seesaw battle began when Rogers netted his fourth goal of the weekend on the power play at the 3:50 mark in the first period.

With the Illini holding a 4-2 lead midway through the second period, Icers sophomore forward Kevin Jaeger snapped off a blistering shot from the top of the face-off circle that beat Danlow high glove side, cutting the deficit to one.

Then, Icers senior forward Paul Crooker re-directed a slap shot from the point past Danlow at 12:55 to tie the game at four, sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy.

Deep into the third period, with overtime looming, Illinois freshman forward Mike Roesch sent the puck towards the net from the blue line. The shot trickled innocently between

Graham's legs with 42 seconds remaining in the game, giving the Illini the game, 5-4.

The key component of the weekend series was Danlow, who made splits and flips that would make Bella Karolyi proud. Indeed, Danlow's performance resembled the floor exercise at the Olympics more closely than a hockey game. Making save after heart-breaking save on Icers shots, the Illinois goalie was an indispensable part of the Illinois attack.

"No words can describe what Tim means to this team," Illinois assistant coach Rick Kohler said. "If we loose, we feel like we let him down."

Danlow said the key to his routine is in the pre-game.

"Every game I try to prepare myself to not let up the first goal," Danlow said. "I prepare to be out-shot by double."

The loss will most likely mean that Illinois will take over the No. 1 spot in the next ACHA standings, ending the Penn State stronghold of 18-straight polls in the No. 1 position. McNeill said the loss redirects the Icers focus toward the ACHA tournament and provides the roadmap to get there.

"We played a very tough team," McNeill said. "Now we know where we need to be for nationals. We've won the National Championship as a two seed, as a three seed, as a four seed and as a one seed, so we've been there before."