Ice hockey coach Jerry Roberts made it clear that when his team walks out of Lancaster Ice Rink after they play Millersville University Saturday, they expect to be walking out on top.

“We structured our schedule so that we could provide our players with an opportunity to get their feet wet in the beginning of the year, and we’re looking at this one as a must win,” Roberts said. “We can’t let this one slip away.”

Temple will open their season with the Millersville game and will have to keep their focus and intensity levels at a maximum in a game in which they appear to be the favorites, Roberts said.

“We’re not the seasoned group we want to be yet, but the one thing we do have control over is our intensity, focus and the ability to execute the game plan,” Roberts said. “If they come out with that drive and intensity, we shouldn’t have to worry about anything else.”

In what is the first test of the season, Roberts will be looking for good performances out of some of the team’s younger players, including freshman forward Jason Marbaich.

“I think [Marbaich] is going to have a good game,” Roberts said. “He’s looked really good in practice and it looks like he wants to show his new teammates what he’s going to bring. We haven’t had a freshman make a major impact in his first game in a long time.”

Millersville finished as the runners up in the Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference last season, and compiled a 16-2-1 record, good for first place in the western division.

The puck is set to drop at 5:45 p.m.

-Andrew Parent