The ice hockey club is ranked second in the country and it has a title to defend.

"Our minds are on Arizona," Coach Joe Battista said after Saturday's disappointing loss to Niagara. "In the back of everybody's mind, they are thinking about the National Invitation Tournament."

The Icers are Arizona-bound. They will be leaving at 6 tomorrow morning for the NIT at Tucson to join Ohio University, Arizona, Iowa State, Rhode Island, Eastern Michigan, Navy and North Dakota State to battle for No. 1 from Feb. 27 -- March 2.

The Icers will start the tournament at 4 Wednesday afternoon against Eastern Michigan. Then at 10 a.m. Thursday, the Icers will face Navy. After that they get a good rest before playing their third game at 7:30 Friday night against Arizona.

"We owe them," Battista said. "We've lost to them all three times that we played them down there."

Three days after tournament officals in Arizona announced the pairings, 4,000 tickets were sold.

"We know the place is going to be jammed. It's a 7,000-seat arena, they'll probably have it filled."

The NIT is a round-robin tournament, the team with the best record from each bracket goes to the finals, the second best teams play in the consolation game.

"The other bracket is going to be a tough one, they've got North Dakota State, Iowa State, University of Rhode Island, and Ohio University who is ranked No. 1," Battista said. "So we kind of got the luck of the draw . . . but I'm not going to take Eastern Michigan or Navy lightly, and certainly I'm not going to take Arizona lightly."

This weekend the Icers honored the eight graduating seniors on the team. The seniors will play a big part in the NIT.

"The seniors are here all the time. They support us and help us to win," Chris Cervellero said.

"They (the seniors) give us the confidence we need," defenseman Mike Messner said. "They're passing the torch."

Center Marc Gresko will graduate with a degree in journalism. This year he had three goals and nine assists. Goalie Mark O'Brien, who played six games this season, will graduate with a degree in economics. Right Wing Bob Kokal had four goals and three assists this season will graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Jerry Moore, who suffered from a knee injury, will graduate with a degree in economics. Lance Riddile ended the regular season with five goals and seven assists. He will graduate with a degree in recreation and parks.

Tri-captain John Ioia suffered from a knee injury the majority of the season. In the 11 games he played he had seven goals and eight assists. He will be graduating with a degree in economics. Tri-captain, center and four-year player Midge Hutchison will graduate with a degree in chemical engineering. This season Hutchison had eight goals and 10 assists. Josh Brandwene finished the regular season just three points away from breaking Battista's record for points for a defenseman. The current record is 138 points set in 1982. Tri-captain and a four-year player, Brandwene will graduate with a degree in exercise science.