Icecats bounce back with sweep in Tempe
There was a noticeable difference in Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski's attitude after the Arizona State series this past weekend. He was happy with his team's play for the first time in over a month.
UA had just swept the Sun Devils 5-4 on Saturday and 6-2 on Sunday, making the Icecats 4-0 this year against their heated rival.
The No. 5-ranked Icecats appear to be headed in the right direction after going 1-3 against No. 1 Penn State and No. 6 Towson State.
"I'm very proud of the guys," Golembiewski said. "We went out there and did a helluva job. Anytime you can beat ASU in their barn it's a turning point."
The Icecats won in dramatic fashion Saturday as Kyle Neary tipped in a goal with 20 seconds left in overtime to cement a 5-4 victory. The Icecats trailed 4-2 with just four minutes left in regulation. But a Paul Dorn goal with 3:41 left, coupled with a Marc Harris goal 30 seconds later, put the game into overtime, where Neary took a Pavel Jandura pass to put the Sun Devils away.
"Hats off to Pavel on that pass," Golembiewski said. "We had a two-man break and he just juked the goalie. Neary tipped in a perfect pass."
Starting in goal for the Icecats Saturday afternoon was junior Mark Meister, who appeared to have lost his starting job after he was lifted in last Saturday's loss to Towson State.
"Mark Meister played an incredibly solid goal in the third period and OT," Golembiewski said. "He was playing the kind of goalie we all knew he could play."
Sunday's game was less of a nailbiter. The Icecats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period as Harris, Neary and Mike Graves gave freshman goalie Jason Morgan some early breathing room. Another goal from Harris coupled with goals from Jandura and Dorn gave the Icecats their first blowout in over a month.
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