By Chris Jackson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
December 10, 1997

Icecats' winter break won't be so merry

The Arizona Icecats may have hit a new low in being swept by Arizona State last weekend.

Their schedule, though, is not going to give them much of a breather.

After finals, Christmas and New Year's, the Icecats play against two of the top-ranked teams in the country. Fifth-ranked Michigan-Dearborn and No. 3 Eastern Michigan visit the Tucson Convention Center on Jan. 3-4 and 9-10, respectively.

Even after those two clubs come and go, No. 10 Delaware drops in on Jan. 16-17 and UA goes on the road for three weeks prior to a rematch series with ASU.

The Icecats are 7-6 on the year and are likely to drop out of the American Collegiate Hockey Association top eight rankings. That means no postseason tournament, something Arizona has never missed in the past 18 years.

The Icecats lost their last three games to Arizona State 9-2, 5-2 and 7-2. The offense disappeared in the ASU series and Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski said the Icecats' goaltending, or lack thereof, was another major reason for the defeat.

Part of the Icecats' problem seems to be the team's youth. Arizona has only two seniors, and three of the team's top scorers are freshmen.

The Icecats are young in goal, too, with sophomore Mike Tesi, who didn't start last season, taking the bulk of the starting time. Freshmen Jordan Bolton and Mike Peplinski have struggled to maintain consistency as well.

Freshman center Kory Wagstaff is out for the rest of the season with a broken knuckle on his right hand. Golembiewski said the team is trying to recruit a new center to take his spot for next semester.

The game on Jan. 3 against Michigan-Dearborn starts at 7:30 p.m. while the Jan. 4 game starts at 2 p.m. The Jan. 9 and 10 games against Eastern Michigan both start at 7:30 p.m.