The No. 11 Arizona club hockey team (14-10) split the series at No. 7 Weber State this weekend having already swept their opponent at home earlier in the season.
The Icecats avenged Friday night's 6-2 loss to WSU with a 4-3 win Saturday afternoon. Freshman goaltender Nick Boddy was between the pipes for Arizona on Saturday, improving to 3-0 this season against Weber State.
"I'm very pleased how we played on Saturday," Arizona head coach Leo Golembiewski said. "That's probably the best 60 minutes we've played in a long time."
Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the first period Saturday off sophomore defenseman Max Sliwinski's goal, assisted by sophomore forward Scott Marshall.
Arizona never lost that lead as freshman forward Robbie Nowinski scored his 21st goal of the season in the second period. Freshman forward Matt Conover and junior forward Dave Cwik also added goals for the Icecats.
The second period ended with the Icecats holding a 4-3 advantage, which Boddy preserved by shutting out WSU in the third period, making 18 saves. Boddy made several fantastic glove saves in the third period, Golembiewski said, including stopping three breakaways.
Golembiewski said some of the defensemen had problems with angles on Weber State's home ice, which is a more rectangular rink.
"It's an Olympic-sized rink widthwise but not length," Golembiewski said. "A lot of the new guys hadn't played there or in a rink like that before."
The rink issues and travel fatigue played a part in the Icecats' play in the first period Friday, as sophomore goaltender Luke Edwall made 15 saves to keep the first period scoreless, before Weber State poured in four goals in the second. The second period was the sloppiest period of the weekend, Golembiewski said, as Weber State poured on four goals with Cwik and senior forward Cole Dunlop scoring for Arizona.
"There's been a lot of pressure on the players this season with the strength of our schedule, and they deserve a lot of credit," Golembiewski said. "It was another successful weekend."