By Chris Jackson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 21, 1997

Little-known opponent could spell trouble for Icecats

When looking at the Arizona Icecats club hockey team's 1997-98 schedule, one might not circle this weekend's series against Minot State as must-see games.

After all, it is Minot State, a school one-tenth the size of UA way up in North Dakota near the Canadian border.

But surprise, the Beavers are ranked sixth in the latest American Collegiate Hockey Association poll, while the Icecats slipped from fifth to seventh.

That means that Minot State is the favorite going into the two-game series that starts tonight at 7:30 at the Tucson Convention Center, and ends tomorrow at the same time.

"I don't know anything about them," Icecat senior center and co-captain Ben Ruston said. "Not knowing how teams play is good, though, because then we don't play down to their level."

Beaver head coach Brian Wilkie described his team's style this way.

"We have a lot of quickness up front, big defensemen," he said. "We can score a lot of goals, but ultimately we just take care of our own ends."

Minot State comes into the series after two games against Arizona State in Tempe. Prior to those two games the Beavers had a 7-1 record and a four-game winning streak. The streak began with a sweep on the road of Colorado, a team the Icecats (6-2) also defeated earlier this year, and Colorado State.

Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski said it was the Beavers' wins over rival North Dakota State-Fargo that enabled them to jump five spots in the poll this past week.

"They're going to be a gigantic test for our young team," he said. "We've got to play with greater intensity than we've played with so far this season."

After last weekend's 9-4, 13-2 sweep of Southern Cal, Icecat freshman right-wing Marc Harris said the team's confidence is up.

"Coach said we've been playing too timid," Harris said. "I want to go out this week and prove him wrong."

The Icecats' losses to fourth-ranked Ohio caused them to slip two spots in the poll, and the size and style of play of the Beavers is similar to the Bobcats.

Minot State is led by senior center Derek Matheos, who has 32 points in his team's first eight games.

The Icecats have three big scorers this year, all on the same line. Harris has 10 goals and 17 assists for a team-high 27 points. Freshman left-wing Ed Carfora has six goals and a team-high 19 assists for 25 points. Ruston has a team-high 16 goals and eight assists for 24 points.

Freshman left-wing Paul Dorn, who's second on the team with 12 goals, had only one thing to say about this weekend.

"We've got to sweep them," he said.

This will be the Beavers' first trip to Tucson, something that Wilkie said "should be a very different experience."

The Icecats had two crowds this year that were larger than the entire student body at Minot State.

"I'm looking forward to playing in front of the big crowds," Wilkie said. "We actually like it when the crowd gets on us."

American Collegiate Hockey Association Poll

The top eight teams in the ACHA qualify for the national tournament this March in Ames, Iowa.

1. Iowa State	15-1
2. Eastern Michigan	11-2-1
3. Penn State	6-2
4. Ohio University	9-4
5. Michigan-Dearborn	10-4
6. Minot State	7-1
7. Arizona	6-2
8. Towson State	10-3