With almost a quarter of the season gone, the Arizona men’s club hockey team had yet to put together a complete game.

But the Icecats finally did Saturday and picked an odd time to do so, defeating Texas Tech 6-2 only three hours after a 14-hour bus ride to Lubbock, Texas.

The Icecats, now 5-1-1 after tying a physical Red Raiders team yesterday, have struggled to be consistent offensively this season, but two goals apiece by forwards Craig Irwin, Robbie Nowinski and Jordan Schupan helped the Icecats to another good showing on the road Saturday.

“”We’re not happy with the tie, but after battling back from four (goals) down we’ll take it,”” Nowinski said.

UA head coach Leo Golembiewski said he is pleased with his team’s record so far, especially considering they have yet to play a game on its home ice at the Tucson Convention Center.

The Icecats’ weekend performance was “”gutsy and urgent,”” important for Arizona as it tries to stay consistent and overcome a tough upcoming schedule, Golembiewski said.

Frequent penalties and difficulty converting on power-play opportunities contributed to yesterday’s 4-4 tie, Nowinski said.

“”We’re struggling to move the puck and hit the net,”” he said, adding that the team’s power-play execution “”still needs lots of work – it’s been pretty sluggish.””

Nineteen penalties were called on the Icecats yesterday, and two more players got misconduct penalties over the weekend. Defensemen Evan Morrow got one Saturday and Phil Hotarek yesterday, raising the team season total to six.

Golembiewski said the power play must improve for the team to be successful in the long run.

“”Our biggest inconsistency is our power play,”” Golembiewski said. “”If we can get that down we should be fine. (It) just seems like we can’t even hit the net right now. We’ll be shooting from the point in practice this week until the cows come home.””

Arizona came through on the man advantage when junior Brandon Robinson scored in the third period yesterday. Forward Scott Marshall’s goal midway through the period tied the game at four after Arizona fell behind 4-0 early.

Texas Tech scored four times in the first 14 minutes of the game, before Nowinski scored late in the first period to steal back some momentum.

Golembiewski said the team played undisciplined and committed too many penalties yesterday, but that he expects players to clean things up this week.