The Arizona Icecats used about 40 minutes in their two games with Rhode Island to pull out victories over the weekend at the Tucson Convention Center.

In the third quarter on Friday night, the Icecats scored five goals to put the Rams away, 9-2.

"We're a good third-period team," Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski said. "But you've got to play 60 minutes."

OK, Coach.

The momentum created on Friday carried over to Saturday night as the Icecats notched five first-period goals en route to an 8-3 win.

"We showed a lack of discipline," Golembiewski said. "We're going to be prone to make mistakes."

While youth is the big factor for the eighth-ranked Icecats (6-0), it was their experience which shined throughout the weekend.

The line of juniors Ben Ruston and Andy Knick and senior co-captain Peter Scott accounted for seven of the nine goals on Friday. Senior Sam Battaglia notched a goal and two assists for the Icecats on Friday night.

Freshman goaltender Beau Lemire continued to impress with two more solid performances. He allowed two goals in each game, but his goals against average remains a miniscule 1.00. Freshman Mike Tesi surrendered the third goal for the Rams (2-7) on Saturday.

The Icecats will remain at the TCC this weekend for a two-game set with Illinois.

- Craig Degel

Volleyball beats ASU

The Arizona volleyball team tried to defy history Friday night and beat Arizona State in a regular-season match, something it hasn't done in 13 tries. After splitting the first two games of the match 15-8, 15-11, 8-15, 9-15, the Wildcats came back to win 15-10 at McKale Center.

"I never doubted that we were going to win this game," senior outside hitter Barb Bell said.

The Wildcats (16-8 overall, 7-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference) are in fifth place in the conference. The Sun Devils fell to 3-11 in the Pac-10 and 8-12 overall.

The key for Arizona was the play of the middle blockers, Tamika Dennis and Keisha Johnson. It was Dennis' block that earned the game point in the fifth game.

"Keisha came back in the beginning of the (fifth) game and had two huge blocks against Terri Cox," UA head coach Dave Rubio said.

"They were massive, straight-down, in-your-face, great blocks."

Before entering the second half of the conference season, Rubio said the team needed to go 4-5 in its last nine games in order to make the NCAA Tournament. So far, it is 4-1. The top five teams in the Pac-10 usually go on to postseason play.

- Sam Spiller

Golf teams place 3rd

Both the Arizona men's and women's golf teams finished their fall schedules over the weekend by placing third at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate in Hilton Head, S.C.

The men were lead by senior Gary Matthews, who shot a 5-under par 211 on the par-72, 6,651-yard course. Matthews' score was good enough to earn him a tie for fourth place overall in the individual standings. Sophomore Todd Rose finished tied for 12th overall at 1-under par 215, and junior Rory Sabbatini finished in a tie for 19th place with a 2-over par 218.

The team shot a three-day total of 864, which put it 13 shots behind first-place Texas Christian and nine shots behind second-place Wake Forest. Oklahoma State and Florida tied for fourth place, three shots behind the Wildcats.

The women finished with a tournament total of 919, narrowly missing a second-place finish, one stroke behind Louisiana State. Arizona State won the women's team title with a score of 913.

Freshman Jill Gomric shot an 11-over par 227 to finish in a tie for seventh overall, while junior Heather Graff and freshman Jenna Daniels each shot a 14-over par 230 to finish tied for 14th place. Sophomore Krissie Register, in her first tournament competition in almost two months, finished tied for 19th place at 232.

- Scott Bricker

Laxcats lose exhibition

For three quarters, the visiting Arizona Laxcats played the Phoenix Lacrosse Club to a 7-7 draw. But in the fourth, the Laxcats ran out of gas.

Phoenix Lacrosse Club splintered the Laxcat defense in the final period, outscoring the Laxcats 5-1 en route to a 12-8 victory at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Despite a hat trick from captain Josh Sfara and a two-goal performance from Chris Stinson, the Laxcats were beaten by the older, more experienced Phoenix club. Jeff Rizzo and Dave Wilner also scored for the Laxcats.

"They were definitely much more physical than we were," Laxcat head coach Mickey-Miles Felton said. "I was looking for a better performance at this point in the season."

The loss dropped the Laxcats to 3-2 in exhibition play. The game was the last in a series of exhibition matches for the Laxcats, who will practice two more weeks before breaking for the semester.

- Phil Villarreal

Rugby wins tourney

Speed and determination helped the Wildcats to victory in this weekend's Domino's Classic Tournament.

With New Mexico State pulling out of the tournament at the last minute because of injures, Arizona beat the University of San Diego 31-10 and Northern Arizona 37-5.

"A lot of people are saying that we have a very good team and I certainly feel that way, but it doesn't mean anything until we play the games," UA head coach Dave Sitton said.

- Carlos Arias

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