Icecats upset in tournament

With leading scorer Brian Consolino watching from the sidelines after he handed a game disqualification for checking from behind in Wednesday's game versus Delaware, the Icecats were forced to look elsewhere for scorihng punch and none came.

"We're a team and one guy is not going to change the outcome of a game," UA junior Ben Ruston said. "We knew what we had to do and we didn't do it."

Freshman Josh Flett lit the scoreboard in the first period at 3:31 on an unassisted goal.

However, the Wolves' Dan Hunt retaliated and connected on freshman goaltender Beau LeMire at 9:29. The goal by Hunt sparked two consecutive goals by the Wolves within two minutes, giving Michigan-Dearborn (21-15-3) a 3-1 lead.

Ruston pulled the Icecats closer, scoring at 14:26 off of passes from Joel Nusbaum and Peter Scott. The Icecats went into the locker room trailing, 3-2.

"We came out flat," Icecat coach Leo Golembiewski said. "We've got to come out with more intensity. We played catch-up all night."

Michigan-Dearborn quickly came out and scored two quick goals at 2:11 and 4:01 to create a three goal lead.

Senior co-captain Sam Battaglia reduced the Wolves' lead, scoring at 8:37 off of a pass from Ruston. Battaglia suffered a knee injury in Wednesday's game versus Delaware, but chose to play anyway.

"Sammy deserves a lot of credit," Golembiewski said. "He played hurt and played hard."

The Icecats came out of the second intermission and were able to again pull closer to the Wolves. Freshman Tommy Thompson connected at 2:17 off of passes from Nusbaum and sophomore Brian Meehan. The Icecats allowed another Michigan goal, however, two minutes later. At 5:44, Scott scored the final Icecat goal, with help from freshman Kevin Baskel and Ruston.

The one-goal game didn't last too long. The Wolves' Dave Scott scored an unassisted goal at 8:32 to keep the comfortable lead.

"Anytime you play a team of this caliber in the national tournament you have to play your best," Ruston said. "We didn't play well defensively."

The Icecats have one more chance to make it to Saturday's championship game. They meet two-time defending champion Ohio today at 2 p.m. Tucson time.

In other scores, No. 3 Ohio defeated Delaware, 5-2 to improve to 2-0. No. 4 Penn State beat No. 8 Western Michigan, 6-2.