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Th UA handles Trojans 8-0 in championship game
e Arizona Icecats won the first-ever Fire and Ice Saga Tournament this past week in Iceland, outscoring their opponents 41-5 in the process.
After winning four games to reach the finals of the tournament, Arizona (14-1 overall) defeated Southern California 8-0 to capture the championship.
Icecats Head Coach Leo Golembiewski said in a press release that he was happy with his team's play and the end result.
"We put up some impressive numbers this week and played our style of hockey throughout the week," Golembiewski said. "We played finesse type hockey when we needed to and hard-nosed style if the situation warranted.
"We fought our way to this championship not only on the ice, but also against the climate and a grueling bus trip of seven hours to Akureyi, (Iceland) on Thanksgiving."
In the final game, UA junior Dave Galardini opened the scoring with his first goal as an Icecat at 5:26 of the first period.
Junior forward Kyle Neary scored at the 8:59 mark to put the Icecats up 2-0. Senior forward Marc Harris had two goals for the Icecats and senior forward Paul Dorn added one. Also scoring for the Icecats were sophomore defender Bill Pardue and freshmen forwards Joe Boysen and Braden Koprivica. Arizona outshot USC, 45-21.
The victory capped off a week of dominant play by the Icecats, a team that has lost just one game all season.
Arizona got off to a fast start last Tuesday, beating the Icelandic National Team, 10-2. UA senior forward Paul Dorn had four goals in the victory.
Things only got better for the Icecats last Wednesday, as they defeated the Icelandic Select Team, 14-0.
Junior forward Mike Graves had a hat trick to lead the Icecats and junior defender Pavel Jandura scored two goals to help defeat the select team.
During the weekend, Arizona continued to play well. UA beat the Ice Pirates of New York 5-1 on Friday and Oakland University 4-2 on Saturday to advance to the championship game.
Dorn and Harris - the Icecats co-captains - led the team during the tournament. Harris had nine goals and 11 assists to lead the Icecats, while Dorn added nine goals and nine assists.
Golembiewski said the best part of the tournament came at the very end, after his Icecats had captured the title.
"It was like an Olympic moment standing on the blue line and hearing your National Anthem played in honor of your country and team," he said.
The Icecats will be presented their championship trophy Friday night before they open a two-game homestand against Arizona State.
