Icecats finish 4th at ACHA tourney

By Shoshana Burrus
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 10, 1997

Icecats finish 4th at ACHA tourney

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Arizona Icecats dropped the third-place game of the American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich. Saturday night to Penn State 4-2.

The fourth-place finish was the Icecats best since 1994. UA finished the season at 25-5-1.

The Ohio Bobcats won their third-consecutive national title after defeating Iowa State, 2-1 in the championship game.

The Nittany Lions scored first at 1:31 in the second period, and then again on a power play at 12:47.

Arizona junior Ben Ruston's first goal came on a power play at 14:10 off of passes from Peter Scott and Sam Battaglia.

"We were definitely motivated enough to win," Ruston said. "We outshot them and outplayed them. We just didn't outscore them."

Ruston also said that youth had a factor in their finish.

"Experience wins tournaments," Ruston said. "The younger guys didn't play so well and the puck just didn't bounce our way."