Icecats rally to tie Bobcats

The Bobcats had an explosive first period, scoring two of their three goals early.

Icecat Brian Consolino put UA on the board in the first period, scoring off a pass from co-captain Sam Battaglia.

The Icecats (17-2-1) went into the locker room after the first period with a 2-1 deficit.

Icecat coach Leo Golembiewski said his team came out in a tentative mood against the two-time national champions but recovered well.

"This was a great game," Golembiewksi said. "It's the best game we've played all season."

The Bobcats scored again, seven minutes into the second period, giving them a 3-1 advantage.

However, sophomore Ace Pascual put the Icecats closer, scoring at 15:31 in the second period off of passes from Bob Majka and freshman Josh Flett. Arizona outshot the Bobcats 13-10 in the second period.

"Pascual was the player of the game," Golembiewski said. "He really stepped it up."

The third period was all Icecats. They outshot Ohio 20-10 and forced an overtime.

Freshman goaltender Beau LeMire rebounded after the ASU 8-6 loss on Thursday. LeMire had a total of 32 saves.

"This was the best performance of his career," Golembiewski said of the goaltender.

With injuries to defensemen Paul Juran and Ohio-veteran Chad Dyjak, the Icecats only a had a five-man defensive rotation. Dyjak is questionable and Juran will not play tonight when the two teams meet again.

Consolino tied the game with a back-handed goal with only 3.3 seconds left in regulation. Sophomore Andy Knick and co-captain Peter Scott assisted. Neither team scored in overtime.

"This was the greatest team effort of the year," Golembiewski said. "It was a huge victory for us. There was a great effort out of all three offensive lines."