There should be no more skeptics as to the ability of the Arizona Icecats after this weekend.

The eighth-ranked Icecats came up with a big victory on Saturday night, beating the No. 9 Arizona State Ice Devils 4-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,850 at the Tucson Convention Center.

That win followed a 7-4 victory on Friday night by the undefeated Icecats, improving their record to 12-0.

"We've finished the semester 12-0," Icecat coach Leo Golembiewski said.

"To get out of this situation 12-0 with this team (Arizona State), I'm just very proud of these guys."

The Icecats made their point early with a goal by co-captain Peter Scott just 33 seconds into the game, off assists from Paul Juran and Bob Majka.

Three minutes later Icecats forward Brian Consolino connected on a short-handed goal at 3:36.

"This should be our closest game because it's our biggest rivalry," said Consolino, who also scored at 13:51 in the first period. "It was nice to see not only the older guys step up, but the other guys, too."

Ice Devil Mike Bradstock put one goal on the scoreboard for ASU in the first period at 5:27, giving the Icecats a 3-1 advantage going into the second period.

The second period was a different story, as the Ice Devils came out scoring early off a short-handed goal by Mark Parris at 1:08. At the end of the period, Arizona State tied the game with a long-range shot by Brian Sternberg at 13:50.

Golembiewski said that during the intermission he tried to remind his players of the three most important things: family, academics and hockey.

"With not a tone of voice raised, I said, 'Boys, we like to believe we're a first-class organization, with first-class players,'" Golembiewski said. "We've got to go out there with dignity and hockey style, with class and poise."

Whatever Golembiewski said during the intermission worked. Sophomore Majka scored the winning goal at 3:09 from the blue line, off passes from Scott and Andy Knick.

"Majka put in the big goal," Consolino said. "All the credit in the world to him for stepping up in the third."

Defenseman Joel Nusbaum said the team knew the key players would have to step up and keep shooting.

"The rivalry is always there," he said. "I think the younger guys knew what it was like after Friday night."

Arizona State had plenty of chances to tie the game again, but freshman goalie Beau LeMire blocked the Ice Devils' 10 shots on goal in the third period.

"LeMire came up big when he had to be," Golembiewski said. "The bad goal or two that LeMire gave up were complimented by the big save on the breakaway. Nobody expected us to be where we are at this juncture and my players deserve a lot of props."

Golembiewski ended the semester by clinching his 350th win on Saturday night. The Icecats are off the ice until Jan. 3, when they play host to the fourth-ranked University of Delaware for two nights.

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