Although the Icers were the top seed in the American Collegiate Hockey Association's national championship tournament, injuries built up, leading to a 4-0 loss to No. 2-seed Ohio in the championship game on March 4 at the Tucson Convention Center.

The loss dropped the Icers to 27-6-1 after three consecutive wins in Arizona. Even though the players were disappointed after the game, Icer Coach Joe Battista said he was happy with the team's overall performance.

"I think it was quite an accomplishment for this team to go as far as it did," he said.

The Icers advanced to the final after defeating Iowa State 4-2. With an undermanned team due to injuries, the Icers suffered from a lack of depth against Ohio. Four of the six players on the top two offensive lines were either sitting out due to injuries or playing hurt.

Freshman Jeff Adams sat out because of a concussion suffered in mid-season, senior Cliff Graziano played with a broken wrist suffered in the March 1 Illinois game, sophomore Rich Martha separated his shoulder during the championship game and senior Dave Raymer played with a hand injury.

"It was a situation where all those injuries caught up to us," Battista said. "I don't mean to take anything from OU."

Battista said the outcome could have been different if the Icers were healthy. He said a win might not have been guaranteed, but the game would have been closer.

"I think that was ultimately the biggest factor because I thought we played well overall in the tournament," Battista said.

Ohio goaltender Mike Lee also played a part in the victory. The senior shut out the Icers for the first time this season, leaving Battista one win short of 200 for his career.

Note:

-- Several Icers were named to the all-tournament team. Senior defenseman John Farrall and junior forward Rob Keegan were named to the tournament's first team. Junior forward Chad Markowitz, Martha, senior forward Andrew Strasser, senior defenseman P.J. Amodeo and junior goaltender Jeff Crispino all received honorable mentions.