Friday November 2, 2001

Buffaloes charge into Tucson for two-game series

Talk about home cooking.

The Icecats will enter their second weekend of a16-game homestand when UA takes on Colorado tonight and tomorrow at the Tucson Convention Center.

After splitting last weekend's home-opening series with Arizona State, players said they were dissatisfied with their performance because they felt they only showed up for one game.

UA cannot afford to lose its focus again in the upcoming weeks as it attempt to solidify its status as an American Collegiate Hockey Association national championship contender.

"These (home games) are all must-wins if we want to make it to nationals," said senior co-captain Kevin Meehan. "I think if we play the way we played last Saturday night, then Colorado will have their hands full."

Using perhaps their most balanced attack of the early season, the Icecats earned an 8-1 victory against ASU Saturday after dropping the opener, 3-2.

Senior co-captain Kyle Neary said he is looking for more contributions from UA's youthful second and third lines in the upcoming weeks.

"There is always room for improvement, both offensively and defensively," said Neary, the team's leading scorer. "We showed a lot of resolve last weekend, and (offensively) we need to have balance and have everybody chip in."

Though the Icecats - and freshman goaltender Bryan Aronchick - have allowed an average of just two goals per game, the Buffaloes remain a mystery to many UA players.

"We were told that they're a young team with a new coach, and I'm not really sure how well they did last year," Neary said. "Hopefully it will be a good weekend of hockey.

"With the way our schedule is, we know that every game is very important."

Meehan agreed.

"We are hoping to sweep because we really need every win," Meehan said. "This is an important stretch. We have to play hard, and take it weekend-to-weekend."