Icecats aiming for higher goals next season

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore center Marc Harris (18) skates down the ice last season. The Icecats finished fifth at this year's ACHA National Tournament and will return all but two players in 1999.

"I'm very happy with our performance this season," Golembiewski said. "We're not going go change anything. With a little upward mobility, we could go all the way next year."

The Icecats capped off their 20th anniversary season with a 1-2 record at the American Collegiate Hockey Association's national championship tournament last week in Newark, Del.

The 7-0 drubbing of Towson University in the last tournament game was not only the Icecats' final game of the season, but also a farewell performance for the team's two seniors, Bob Majka and Brian Meehan.

The story of the year on offense was the emergence of sophomores Paul Dorn and Marc Harris as the unspoken team leaders. Finishing first and second in points, respectively, Dorn and Harris combined for a total of 148 points and 79 goals for the 1998-99 campaign. "It got to be where we'd be a little disappointed if neither of us scored in a given game," Dorn said.

"Sure there was a little pressure, but we enjoyed it."

Dorn's surgeon's shot earned him the distinction as the team's premier goal scorer, while Harris' consistent play at center made him the ringleader of Golembiewski's self-proclaimed "pro-style offense."

Between Dorn, Harris and sophomore wing Mike Graves, the Icecats appear set up for offensive success in the future, and the defense remains in good hands as well.

Freshman Pennsylvania native Jason Morgan and junior transfer Mark Meister of Villanova split most of the second half of the season between the pipes.

The first half of the season saw Meister carry the team to an undefeated record while maintaining a goals-allowed average of just under 3.0.

The second half of the season would be a different story, after a pair of disappointing starts against No. 1-ranked Penn State left Meister a bit shaken, and Morgan's solid play earned him a spot in what became a platoon system.

The high point for the two came in the regular season finale against Arizona State, a series in which both goalies were jockeying to become the starter for the ACHA Tournament. The Friday game saw Morgan lose his cool early, giving up four goals in the first 45 minutes of the game, although the Icecats did come back to win 5-4 on Harris' overtime goal.

The next night, Meister showed shades of greatness as the Icecats won, 4-2, the final ASU goal coming with seven seconds remaining in the contest.

"You have to have three good goaltenders," Golembiewski said of Morgan, Meister and junior Mike Tesi.

Tesi was a key factor in the notching of Golembiewski's 400th win, a 7-2 victory over Marquette.

"I was honored to be in there for coach's 400th," Tesi said after the game. "I know it meant a lot to him and obviously it meant a lot to me that he would put me in there." Golembiewski is the only active ACHA coach with 400 wins, and he doesn't plan on stopping any time soon.

"If anyone deserves 500 wins, it's Coach G," Icecats media contact John Dadante said. "He works his tail off, day-in and day-out."

The season was the end of the line for the Icecats' two seniors, Majka and Meehan. Majka, in what Golembiewski called "poetic justice," contributed a goal to the Icecats' final win against Towson with less than one minute remaining.

"The best part about Bobby Majka was that he knew his role on the team," Dorn said. "We're good friends and I wish him the best."

Majka was very appreciative of his four years as an Icecat.

"I learned a lot not only about hockey but about myself as a person," he said following his final regular season game. "I look forward to following them in the future."

Meehan was the team's Ironman - a constant in the Icecat program. Playing 122 straight games, an Icecat record, Meehan will be remembered by Dorn for his class and composure. "A lot of guys would've complained about being a role player, but not Bri," Dorn said. "He was an excellent penalty-killer, very defensive minded and a good friend. I'll miss him a lot."

As the final curtain falls on the Icecats' 20th anniversary season, many will look to it as a season of milestones.

"We're making a lot of headway," Golembiewski said. "We'll be right in the middle of it again next year."

Ryan Finley can be reached at Ryan.Finley@wildcat.arizona.edu.