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By Shoshana Burrus
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 18, 1996
Arizona Icecat coach Leo Golembiewski said there was only one word to describe his team's 7-4 victory Saturday over Illinois: "huge."For the first time all season, the Icecats (8-0) faced a squad that tested their ability and their competitiveness.
"These are our first league games of the year with the central states," Icecat coach Leo Golembiewski said. "This weekend was huge for who we are as a hockey team."
In a game dominated by penalties, No. 8 Arizona defeated 15th-ranked Illinois 6-1 on Friday night.
On Saturday, the Icecats had a big scare in the first period as the Illini jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
"We came out and expected just because you wore the green saguaro on your chest that it would just happen," Golembiewski said. "Nothing just happens."
Whatever the undefeated Icecats expected didn't happen until the second and third periods of the game, after they went to the locker room with a 3-2 deficit at the conclusion of the first period.
The first Illini goal came just 11 seconds into the first period. Later in the period, Illinois (3-8-1) connected on another goal at 9:40 off of a power play.
A change in thoughts, Golembiewski said, made a difference in the rest of the game as the Icecats had 42 shots on goal to Illinois' 28.
The Icecats tied the game at 3:44 in the second period off a goal from Andy Knick. Senior Sam Battaglia scored his second goal at 11:37 in an open net, clinching the lead for the Icecats.
Sophomore Andy Knick and freshman Josh Flett both scored off of power plays in the second period to take a 6-3 lead into the final period.
"We came out bad," Knick said. "But we came out after the first period and took it to them. It was an all-around team effort."
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