Despite a disappointing start to the season, the Arizona men’s club hockey team heads to the “”Show Me State”” to show that they are still worthy of being a Top 25 team.

After going 0-3 at the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Showcase, Arizona (0-3-0) will take on Saint Louis University this weekend for a pair of games. The Billikens will be playing their first two games of the season.

“”They swept us at their place last year,”” said head coach Leo Golembiewski. “”So they’re a pretty good rival.””

Though it’s still early in the year, the team knows that they’re starting off in a bit of a hole. The games this weekend could determine what type of season they will have.

“”We’ve got to beat Saint Louis to have any chance this year,”” said goaltender Nick Boddy.

The Icecats are looking to avoid third period lapses similar to the ones they’ve had in each of their first three games. That the Icecats have played well until the third period is just one reason for the poor start to the season.

“”I think it’s a mixture of inexperience and lack of ice time,”” said Boddy. “”Half of our team is freshmen.””

Though the freshmen lack experience, one freshman has played well to start the season. Forward Alex Dunning has three goals to start the season, scoring one goal in each of the Icecats’ games.

The Icecats will be facing an uphill battle to try to be one of the top 16 teams by the end of the season, as only the top 16 squads are invited to the national championship tournament at the end of the season. Arizona’s next ten games will be against Division II teams, which will make it tougher to get the respect of the voters. Players said winning at least one of the games in the showcase tournament would have helped, so the Icecats will have to capitalize on their schedule throughout the rest of the season.

“”The (voters) don’t get a lot of chances to see us play,”” said forward Matt Conover. “”Having a lot of D-II teams on our schedule, it’s going to be tough this season.””

These next two games will be the Icecats’ last two games in a stretch of five straight road contests. Arizona’s next road game won’t be until the 2009 calendar year, but no matter where the games are played the Icecats need to start playing with a sense of urgency.

“”We’ve got to start winning hockey games,”” Golembiewski said.