The UA Icecats closed out play for the fall semester in a split Friday and Saturday with No. 7 Arizona State.
Arizona (5-6-1) avenged two season-opening losses to the Sun Devils (10-3) Friday in a 3-2 win, before falling 5-2 in Saturday's night's matchup.
"This one was more for pride. We wanted to show we're the best team in Arizona," junior defenseman Mike Pelletier said after Friday's win. "We were embarrassed those first two games, that gave us some extra motivation."
Filming of a Stephen King miniseries delayed Friday's game half an hour, but the UA seemed unaffected, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead in the first period when senior center and Icecat leading scorer Mickey Meehan lobbed an unassisted goal past ASU goaltender Colin Cook.
Sun Devil sophomore forward P.J. Nelson tied it up early in the second.
UA reclaimed the lead minutes later when senior right wing Don Holtz slipped the puck past Cook.
Junior Cole Dunlop broke a 14-minute stalemate 38 seconds into the third period, when Pelletier assisted him on a power play goal.
Minutes later, ASU's Nate Schoenfeld scored a goal to cut the Icecat lead to 3-2 before the Arizona defense locked down the Sun Devils to finish the night with a win.
"We worked hard all week," Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski said. "All our defenders, (Keith) Mitchell, (Anthony) Capone, (Eric) Kowalek, (Max) Sliwinski, those guys always work hard."
Arizona's defense held the Sun Devils four goals below their per-game average of six, and, according to Golembiewski, was the key to the win.
In the third period, Golembiewski said senior defenseman Mike Smith was moved to center to give the Icecats more defensive depth. Between the pipes, senior goaltender Bryan Aronchick was a wall for most of the series, stopping 69 shots on the weekend.
"This was a big win for our guys," Golembiewski said. "We went with who we felt could beat a top team."
Arizona showed ASU a different first line, starting freshman Craig Irwin at center, junior Jerald Zivic at left wing, and freshmen Sliwinski on defense and Scott Marshall at left wing.
"These guys never need a reason to step it up; they always step it up," Golembiewski said.
UA looked to repeat Friday's upset performance Saturday in the rematch with ASU, and the Wildcats matched the Sun Devils for 53 minutes.
The last 7 minutes, however, decided the game.
"We've got to play a complete 60 minutes," Golembiewski said.
Neither team could gain an advantage early, going scoreless the first 15 minutes. ASU's Derek Tanahill gave the Sun Devils their first lead of the weekend late in the first period.
In the second, Arizona's defense stepped up its intensity. Midway through, the Icecats' penalty-killing defense shut out a Sun Devil attack.
Craig Irwin rewarded the defense minutes later with a goal on a Tim Wochok assist.
ASU's Ken Fournier gave the Sun Devils the lead late in the second with a slap shot on a Sun Devil power play, with one second left in the penalty.
Mickey Meehan evened the contest at two just seconds into the third with his second unassisted goal of the weekend.
"This is the No. 7 team in the country, and right now we're No. 20, but we know we're just as good as they are," Meehan said. "We're starting to believe we can beat anybody."
UA and ASU were dead even over the next 12 minutes. Senior Keith Mitchell leveled ASU's Paul Chadwick on one defensive stand in a play that was indicative of Arizona's defensive fire throughout the series.
The Wildcats' intensity wavered in the last 7 minutes for the first time in the series. Fournier scored his second goal of the night from just within the blue line following an icing face-off.
Moments later, Steve Hipskind snapped a rebound past Aronchick to put the Devils ahead 4-2.
With less than a minute left, Ryan Esner closed out the night and the series with a goal to finish the evening at 5-2.
"The score wasn't indicative of how we played," Golembiewski said. "We didn't play those last 4 minutes."
Arizona will have the holiday break to recuperate before hitting the ice again Jan. 7 at home against St. Louis,
Meehan said the Icecats have set a goal to run the table in the spring semester.
"The bottom line is we're coming back stronger, quicker and deeper next semester," Golembiewski said.