A year after a first-round upset and a painful early exit, the University of Arizona Ice Cats are back at the ACHA Division One National Championships with something to prove.

The UA men’s ice hockey team is traveling to St. Louis for the tournament, rolling into town as the 15th seed with a regular season record of 13-10-3.

The regular season ended in heartbreaking fashion Feb. 20, when rival Arizona State knocked off the Cats on home ice 1-0, ending their hopes of an eighth consecutive Cactus Cup title.

Though the Cats fell short of their goals this season, Head Coach Chad Berman still believes in his group.

“Adversity breeds opportunity,” said Berman, who is in his 11th season behind the bench. “Since (the game against) ASU, I think we've really had to look ourselves in the mirror and be honest with ourselves. Since then, every single day of preparation and practice has significantly improved.

The national championship is a single-elimination tournament, where one loss ends a team's season.

Last year the Cats were in the same spot as the 15th seed, knocking off Oklahoma 3-0 in round one before falling to 2nd seed and eventual national champion University of Nevada-Las Vegas 6-2.

Berman and his group know the road to a national championship won't be easy.

“It's a tournament of momentum,” Berman said. “Every shift can affect that momentum, so everything becomes more magnified.”

Berman said he’s leaning on his returners and leadership core to apply the lessons learned from last year's defeat.

The Ice Cats will face Stony Brook University in the first round at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 12. The winner will take on 2nd seed Ohio University the following afternoon.

“It's a quick turnaround, if you win you've got 24 hours to be ready for that next opponent,” Berman said. “we'll be prepared for Ohio if we get that opportunity, however from the players perspective, We got to take care of business against Stony Brook first,”.

Despite the high stakes, Berman is looking forward to the opportunity, as is second-year forward and assistant captain Riley Ruh.

Ruh was on last year’s squad that made it past the first round. He stressed the importance of carrying that experience and passing it to the newer players.

“I think just taking the experience of winning that first game against Oklahoma last year,” Ruh said. “Then learning what not to do in that second game (UNLV loss,) this year we just have to be on our toes, just be on every puck just jump on every team that we play."

Ruh's playoff résumé speaks for itself. In two seasons with the Maryland Black Bears of the North American Hockey League, he contributed to back-to-back final fours, including a Robertson Cup Finals appearance in 2023-24.

"I think it really helped me out, playing in close games," said Ruh, who tallied eight goals, two assists and 10 points in 21 playoff games across his two seasons with the Black Bears.

That experience carried over into his first season with the Ice Cats, where Ruh tallied a team-high 14 goals, 11 assists and 25 points in 21 games, ranking fourth on the team. He also led the team with seven power-play goals and tied for second with two game-winning goals.

In his second year with the Ice Cats, Ruh tallied 10 goals, nine assists and 19 points in 18 regular season games, adding four power-play goals to rank third on the team.

This season, Ruh also stepped into a leadership role as assistant captain.

“It's a huge honor being a captain here. We have a great leadership group,” Ruh said. 

The leadership team also includes third-year forwards Brian Ericsson and Jack Kurrle and fourth year defensemen Nicholas Chiocca.

Ruh said he’s learned a lot in his new role with the team, especially from veteran defensemen Chiocca.

“Having someone like Chiocca, who's been a captain for a bit, has helped me out a lot. Ruh said

Despite the added stress of a leadership role, Ruh has embraced being an assistant captain.

“It's been big just having that little extra responsibility, sometimes it can get stressful, but it's definitely fun and a huge honor for me,” Ruh said.

The Ice Cats’ games will be streamed on flohockey.tv/

To learn more about the 2026 ACHA Division One Men's National Championships visit achahockey.org/2026-national-tournament

Patrick Moore is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and an intern with Tucson Spotlight. Contact him at patrickcmoore@arizona.edu.

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