CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Co-captain Dave Loftus hasn't been down much lately during the Icecats' 12-game winning streak.

After starting the season ranked 10th in the American Collegiate Hockey Association polls, it was said that the Arizona Icecats were young, untested and would struggle to earn an invitation to the ACHA national championship tournament.

Yesterday, the doubters were put to rest as the Icecats, equipped with just three seniors and a host of young freshmen, received the No. 5 seed for the upcoming championship to be held later this month in Athens, Ohio.

After starting the season at 3-3 back in November, not exactly an impressive clip for a team that has won 80 percent of its games during a 24 year history, head coach Leo Golembiewski was quick to say back then that while this was a young team, the season was young as well, with three months of games left to be played. Now all he can do is praise how well his group has played.

"I'm very, very proud of this hockey team," Golembiewski said. "Bill Pardue and Dave Loftus are stellar captains. They continue to lead both on the ice and off."

Since that .500 start, the Icecats have been on a tear. The team currently rides a 12-game winning streak including picking up wins in 18 of its last 19 games. The lone loss during that span was a 6-5 defeat at the hands of intrastate rival Arizona State.

"To be 21 and four with a team that has just three seniors is just remarkable," Golembiewski said. "This is the time of the year to get tough though. We've got business to take care of. It's time for everyone involved to toughen up."

Top-ranked Illinois picked up the tournament's top seed and will square off in one round robin pool with No. 8 Drexel and No. 12 Saint Louis.

Defending champion Penn State came in at No. 2 and faces No. 7 Iowa State and No. 11 Eastern Michigan in another pool.

No. 3 Minot State, No. 6 Delaware and No. 10 Towson will battle it out while UA matches up with No. 4 Ohio, the tournament host, and No. 9 Michigan-Dearborn.

The Icecats have a bye week on the tournament's opening day, facing off with Michigan-Dearborn on Thursday, Feb. 27, to open play. The Icecats play Ohio the following day to complete pool play and open up the bracket.

The Icecats still have two regular season games left, slated for Friday Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23, against Arizona State at the Tucson Convention Center. The Icecats sold out the "Madhouse on Main Street" during last season's final series against ASU ÷ over 7,000 fans came through the doors and hundreds more had to be turned away.