The Illinois men’s hockey team seems to be coming together just in the nick of time.

After starting the second semester off with five straight losses, the Illini have rolled off five straight wins heading into their final Central State Collegiate Hockey League games at Iowa State this weekend.

The turnaround has been in large part to the improved play by junior goaltender Mike DeGeorge and the team’s offense. In the last four games, DeGeorge has allowed just one goal a game and has a save-percentage of 95.6 percent, while the Illini offense has outscored its opponents 29-6 and out shot them 204-116 during their five game winning streak.

“I think we’ve gotten stronger,” head coach Chad Cassel said. “We’re definitely playing better now than we have the entire semester. There is no doubt our goaltending has gotten better, and we’re being able to finish and create more offense. Every aspect of the game has gotten stronger as the semester has gone on.”

Team points leader and senior forward Mike Roesch has also gotten back into the mix of things. With three assists and a goal in last weekend’s games against Michigan-Dearborn, Roesch entered the top ten of the Illini’s all-time scoring leaders with 183 points, two behind former teammate Pat Olsen for ninth all-time.

“It hasn’t set in too much yet,” Roesch said. “Maybe after I’m done it will, but right now we’re just trying to win games. But the guys that are on that list were some great players, so it’s pretty significant being amongst those names.”

Now that the Illini seem to be back on track, both offensively and defensively, they will conclude their regular season and prepare for the CSCHL conference tournament.

The rivalry between the No.4-ranked Illini and the No.5-ranked Cyclones of Iowa State may be the biggest in the CSCHL.

Of late, the rivalry has been completely one-sided in favor of the Illini. Illinois has not lost in the last 13 games between the two teams, and the Cyclones last win over the Illini came just over four years ago on Jan. 26, 2002, in a 4-3 victory at Illinois.

No senior player on Illinois has ever lost to the Cyclones in their career, boasting a 10-0-2 record.

“Every time we play them it’s a great game,” Roesch said. “Both teams come out and play some of their best games of the year against each other. It means a lot to get a win either here or there.”

Iowa State enters the games ranked just behind Illinois in not only the ACHA national rankings but also CSCHL conference standings. The Illini hold a two point lead over the Cyclones in the conference standing after its two wins over Michigan-Dearborn last weekend, and would guarantee themselves a second place finish with at least one win this weekend.

“We don’t have any quality road wins this year, and these would definitely be quality road wins for us,” Cassel said. “Not to mention it would put us in the number two-seed for the league tournament and at the least keep us at the four-seed for the national tournament.”

But going into Ames this weekend and skating away with a victory is a lot easier said than done. The Cyclones are 18-1-1 at home this season and will have their fans out in full force come Friday night.

“They have as much on the line as we do,” Cassel said. “They are going to be excited to have us come in and play on their home ice with their fans there, so it will be an advantage for them. But it’s important for us to come ready to play and get two quality road wins.”