Icers top Icecats

By KEVIN BRICKER
Collegian Staff Writer

NEWARK, Del. -- The Penn State men's ice hockey team took the ice against a team facing elimination. And for two periods -- with the score knotted at 1-1 -- the Icers battled the desperation of an Arizona club with its back against the wall.

But when Penn State defenseman Jason Zivkovic gloved an Arizona clearing attempt at the blue line and launched a howitzer past Icecats' goaltender Mark Meister less than two minutes into the third period, the Icers seized control of the game and skated to a 4-1 win yesterday at Delaware's Fred Rust Arena.

"I give (Arizona) a lot of credit because in the first period that was a team fighting for its life," Icers coach Joe Battista said.

The No. 2 Icers (25-3-3 overall, 2-0 ACHA Tournament) are guaranteed a top-four finish in the round robin tournament. With a win against No. 3 Michigan-Dearborn (26-9-1, 2-0) today, Penn State -- the defending ACHA champs -- would earn a berth in the championship game at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

If Penn State ties or loses to the Wolves in the 4 p.m. matchup, it will play at 4 p.m. in the consolation game tomorrow.

Sixth-seeded Arizona's loss (22-5-2, 0-2) eliminates it from a shot at the title and the consolation game.

"I was pleased with the way we played for 60 minutes," Arizona coach Leo Golembiewski said. "Penn State knew they had their hands full. Four to one certainly wasn't indicative of the game."

Despite getting outshot 30-20 in the first two periods, the inexperienced but speedy Icecats scrapped with Penn State, finally succumbing to the Icers' depth. In a hard-hitting contest, Penn State's four lines endured while Arizona's three lines tired.

"Our depth was the difference in the game," Battista said. "We wore them down as the game went on."

After a scoreless first period, Penn State forward Rich Podulka broke the drought when he fired a shot into an open net. Meister -- a junior goalie -- came out of the crease to play the puck but made an ill-advised pass directly on the tape of Podulka's stick.

But Arizona's quick transition game stung the Icers at 12:46 of the second period when the Icecats' Ty Brush pushed the puck to Paul Dorn. The pass gave Arizona a breakaway and the left wing from Downington beat Penn State goalie John Sixt, tying the game at 1-1.

Penn State didn't panic. It took a collective deep breath as it exploded for three third-period scores.

"I told the guys, 'calm down and realize what we've accomplished. We've got (Arizona) exactly where we want them,' " Battista said of his second-intermission-locker-room discussion.

After Zivkovic's blue-line blast, forward Greg Held buried a rink-wide pass from forward Alon Eizenman along the right boards with 11:06 to play. Forward Joe Bassett added an insurance goal from forward C.J. Patrick and defenseman Scott Curry less than three minutes later.

The stage is set for a return trip to the championship game. But Penn State has lost five of its last seven meetings with the Wolves.

"This is what we had hoped for," Battista said. "This is the showdown we were waiting for."