By
Chris Suffecool
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Icecats win easily 12-2 and 6-1 against Colorado
It was the kind of season home opener that the Icecats needed.
A week after splitting a road series with Saint Louis, the Icecats won both games against Colorado in a convincing manner.
Arizona won Friday night's game, 12-2 behind a hat trick from senior forward Paul Dorn.
The Icecats (3-1 overall) didn't let up Saturday, either. UA took the game 6-1 with solid goaltending from junior Jason Morgan and freshman Brian Schilling.
Head coach Leo Golembiewski was content with the way his team played in its first home series of 2000.
"We know we have a pretty good team." he said "It's really early in the season, and we have to do some checking of our hearts and our souls a little bit and I think that's what we brought to the table."
Freshman goaltender Brian Schilling agreed.
"I thought everyone was flying, working well together, moving the puck well, burying the puck well, shooting well, hitting hard," he said.
On Friday night, the Icecats lit up the Buffaloes for 12 goals. In addition to Dorn's three goals, junior forward Mike Graves and senior forward Marc Harris each notched two scores in the win.
The Icecats led 8-0 at the end of two periods, but Colorado managed to score the first two goals of the third period, cutting the deficit to six goals.
After that, it was all Icecats - UA scored the next four goals to put the game well out of reach.
In the game, the Icecats outshot the Buffaloes 41-25, scoring on more than 25 percent of their shots.
Freshman forward Joe Boysen was impressed with his team's ability to score.
"A lot of guys stepped it up and put the puck in the net," he said.
On Saturday night UA picked up right where they left off, scoring two goals in the first 53 seconds.
Once again it was the trio of Dorn, Graves and Harris leading the way as each player was involved in the first two goals.
Dorn and Harris each had one goal and one assist during that first minute, and Graves had two assists.
Dorn's goal turned out to be the game winner, as Colorado only managed to score one goal on 23 shots throughout the game.
Morgan played the first period and allowed no goals on five shots. Schilling played the rest of the game with impressive poise, allowing only one goal on 18 shots.
However, UA position players seemed to lack an intensity in the second period.
The Buffaloes outshot the Icecats 14-10 during the second period, and the Icecats seemed to play without much intensity during that time.
The perceived lack of heart concerned Golembiewski.
"You can't turn intensity on and off like a light switch" he said. "There's got to be a little harder work in practice. I don't think the practices have been as crisp as they have to be."
Schilling also realizes that his team needs to play harder sometimes.
"You can never give up, you always have to go a hundred percent" he said. "That's something that the young guys, including myself as a rookie, have to look up to the seniors and the returners, just to kind of get that in their heads. You know, you always have to go a hundred percent."
With the exception of the second period, Golembiewski was happy with his team's performance.
"I got pretty much what I expected," he said. "I think we proved we've got 12 pretty talented forwards that are dressing right now and we feel we have the top six defensemen we've had in a long, long time."
Boysen was happy with his first games at "The Madhouse on Main Street," enjoying his first home victories as an Icecat.
"It was wonderful, I love this place," Boysen said. "It was really exciting, I've never really played in a place like this."
