By
Chris Suffecool
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Golembiewski gets 450th win as Icecats head coach
Members of the UA hockey team said this past week that the Icecats have been given little respect in the American Collegiate Hockey Association polls.
The UA hockey team went into Delaware this past weekend and beat the No. 6 Blue Hens twice, 5-1 on Friday and 5-4 on Saturday. With the victories, the Icecats seemingly made a statement to the ACHA pollsters.
Since the beginning of the year, the Icecats have lost only once, but managed to seemingly fall in the rankings each time a new coaches poll is released.
"Coach (Golembiewski) always tells us how we don't get respect from the coaches out East," freshman goalie Brian Schilling said. "Now people out east - the coaches out east - know the Icecats can beat anybody (and) can compete with anybody."
Not only did the victories establish Arizona as a legitimate national contender, they also gave Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski his 449th and 450th victories as Arizona's head coach.
Golembiewski - in his 22nd year as the head coach and general manager of Arizona hockey - has led the Icecats to a national title and has guided UA into the runner-up position four times.
"I didn't really know it was his 450th career win as Arizona Icecat head coach," Schilling said. "It was actually really kind of cool. To get 450 wins is unbelievable. Coach is a great guy - he cares about us, we care about him."
The Icecats feel they have not only proved something to the coaches out East, but also to themselves.
"We got back and struggled a little bit against Saint Louis," senior co-captain Ty Brush said. "This road trip was kind of a huge test. Now we're playing the best hockey we've played all year. I like our chances (at nationals), I feel a lot better than I did after the Saint Louis weekend."
UA was led by their second line this weekend.
Freshman forward Joe Boysen and senior forward Ed Carfora combined for three goals and five assists over the three-game weekend. Carfora had all five assists in Saturday's Icecat victory.
"I just felt that I was getting the job done," Carfora said. "I knew we had to come out and have a big showing. Everyone played a great game, both nights. We proved to ourselves how good we really are."
