Finally, seven games into the season, after a cross-country plane trip and a 14-hour bus ride, the No. 25 Arizona men’s club hockey team will play on home ice.

The Icecats (5-1-1) play host to Colorado State (3-3 entering yesterday) tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 at the Tucson Convention Center, hoping to keep their hot streak going against another quality opponent.

“”(Colorado State) has been playing some really good hockey for the last five or six years,”” said UA head coach Leo Golembiewski. “”We need to play more Western teams like CSU and Colorado and Utah and Utah State. They’ve been top teams for a long time.””

After allowing four goals in the first 14 minutes of an eventual 4-4 tie Sunday against Texas Tech, the Wildcats to start off games a bit more focused, said forward Scott Marshall.

“”We need to come out stronger,”” Marshall said. “”I think if we can get the first goal early in the game, then we can play our style a little easier. Texas Tech really stung us early. We can’t let that happen again. If we get ahead early, I think we can really do some damage.””

The Icecats have also struggled with a man advantage, scoring just two power-play goals on the season. But a recent team drill could help that issue.

During Tuesday night’s practice, each defenseman had to shoot 100 times from the point, a key area for power plays.

“”It’s a young season, and the power play tends to come along with time,”” said forward Robbie Nowinski. “”The lack of practice definitely hurt us, but we’ll be able to fix that this week.””

The Icecats also hope to cure their consistency problems, and familiar surroundings may provide the right atmosphere. Golembiewski said he isn’t looking for any one player to pick the team up, hoping everybody can start hitting their stride at the same time.

“”It’s not about people stepping up, it’s a matter of consistency,”” he said.

The Icecats will need to be hitting on all cylinders for this weekend’s games, as the Rams have a reputation for being a physical and well-coached team.

“”We need to be more physical and check more,”” Nowinski said. “”(Recently) we’ve been using our sticks more instead of using our bodies.””

“”We also need to move the puck a lot more and make quicker decisions,”” he added. “”We have a lot of speed going for us. If we can combine the speed with moving the puck well, then we’ll be really good.””