After a thrilling series against Michigan State two weeks ago, the No. 24 Arizona men’s hockey club team faces another tough test this weekend at the Tucson Convention Center when rival Weber State comes to town.

“”My freshman year there was a bench-clearing brawl at the end of a game against them, and that really helped spark it,”” said forward Robbie Nowinski of an incident at TCC in December 2005. “”It always seems to be a good hockey game every time we play them.””

Arizona (9-5-1)

finally got some momentum going with an exciting 4-3 overtime win to finish the Spartans series Nov. 17, but some of it could have been lost during the Thanksgiving break. The team wasn’t able to practice last week and practiced only twice this week.

The confidence boost the team got from that game, however, should carry over to tonight’s and tomorrow night’s matchups, both at 7.

“”Any time you get a big win like (the one against Michigan State) it’s going to stick with you,”” said forward Scott Marshall. “”We had two good practices this week and we’ll be ready to go.””

The time off also gave the Icecats a chance to heal their collective wounds.

Marshall had more time to clear his head after suffering a concussion in late October in a game versus Colorado State, and Nowinski could rest his injured wrist, an injury sustained against MSU.

“”I’m not exactly sure what’s wrong with it,”” Nowinski said. “”It’s just all bruised up and there’s some ligament damage, but I’ll be able to play.””

Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski expects both games to be close contests.

“”They’re always a big team physically and it’s looking to be quite a good matchup,”” he said.

Despite Weber State’s 5-7 record, it’s still a good team, Golembiewski said. Two of the losses came by No. 5 Oklahoma, and Weber State split four games against ASU.

Arizona has faced Weber State’s Wildcats four times last year – winning twice at home – and hopes to keep its current hot streak alive.

The next four Icecat games, all at home, are against rivals – the following two are against ASU on Dec. 7-8 – and could be the key to salvaging a chance to play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championships in Rochester, N.Y., in March.

Four wins would put Arizona in prime position to be a top-16 team in the ACHA rankings, as only those 16 teams get invited to the national tournament.

“”If we can play the rest of the season like we did in the third period against Michigan State (on Nov. 17), we’ll be in good shape,”” Golembiewski said. “”We need to play similar to that intensity and style and establish our territory on offense. … We want teams to react to us, that’s the key. If we play our game, then that enhances our chances of being successful.””