The Icecats’ current five-game win streak began with a 4-3 overtime win against University of Nevada, Las Vegas, snapping the Rebels’ streak of 42 consecutive wins at home.

It’s probably safe to say that the Rebels will be out for revenge when they take on Arizona at McKale Center tonight.

“”The five-game winning streak is definitely momentum, and the fact that we’re actually playing them in our barn now will definitely give us an upper hand,”” said junior defensemen Geordy Weed. “”We also have the upper hand because we won and ended their winning streak at their own home rink.””

Since the streak began 27 days ago, No. 23 Arizona has outscored its opponents 35-13.

The 7-4 Icecats last lost on Oct. 22 when UNLV beat them 4-1 for their worst loss of the season. Weed said they lost that game because of poor shooting.

“”We made that goalie look like an all-star, but he really wasn’t,”” he said.

The following night, Arizona overcame a 3-1 deficit to tie the game with 12 seconds left and then eventually won 4-3 in overtime. Since then, head coach Leo Golembiewski said that it has all been coming down to playing complete games and learning how to win.

“”We found a way to win that game against UNLV, and of course we’ve carried it over against a good Weber State team but a much better Colorado State team,”” Golembiewski said.

Arizona does have some injuries to deal with in co-captain forward Jordan Schupan and defenseman Jonathan Watanabe. Both will be game-time decisions.

Golembiewski said both games should be very physical. The Icecats will be off until Dec. 10 when it hosts ASU after this weekend.

“”They’re a very physically team, so we have to keep our heads too because we can’t afford to lose any players against ASU,”” he said. “”We have to play our style, which is speed and quickness. That will be the key, along with execution, obviously.””

Sophomore forward Jared Lowell said the team has a lot of energy going in and will be ready to dominate both games.

“”We want to keep our winning streak going for as long as we can. Hopefully it doesn’t end,”” Lowell said. “”We’ve got nothing to worry about this weekend, but we’re going to come out as hard as we can and hopefully embarrass them in our own building.””