Skating off the ice at the Arctic Edge Arena in Edmonton, Okla., the Fighting Illini hockey players had a bitter, unfamiliar taste in their mouths – that of defeat.

The team’s 47-game winning streak finally came to an end Saturday night, as the Illini suffered a 6-4 loss to the Central Oklahoma Bronchos.

The defeat was the first suffered by the Illini in nearly two years, having last lost to Oakland University in the semifinals of the 2007 playoffs back on March 3, 2007.

“It was a really weird feeling after the game, no one knew what to say,” forward Jason Nemeth said.

The Illini found themselves trailing the Bronchos 3-1 after the first period. Down 5-2 in the final period, two consecutive goals from Nemeth pulled the score to 5-4, only to have the Bronchos net a late goal to win 6-4.

Failing to control the puck for much of the game, the Illini were unable to capitalize on the mistakes made by the Bronchos, who committed 10 penalties in the game.

“UCO was one of the most physical teams that we’ve played. They play in a smaller rink so they don’t give you much time to make decisions,” defenseman Brad Hoelzer said. “We just couldn’t make crisp passes and there was no flow to our game.”

With Saturday’s loss, the Illini now stand at 9-1-0 on the season, but remain undefeated in conference with a 2-0-0 record.

The split series ruined the homecoming for forward Rob Deubel, who played for the Bronchos last year before transferring to Illinois. Last season, the Bronchos lost 7-0 and 4-0 to the Illini, but have enjoyed a strong 2008 campaign thus far, with their only losses coming to No. 1 Illinois and No. 2 Lindenwood.

Saturday’s loss followed a narrow 4-3 win for the Illini on Friday night. Heading into the final period with the score tied at 1-1, the Bronchos netted two early goals to take a 3-1 advantage. The Illini rallied to score three goals in the final seven minutes of the game, including two goals in a one minute span, to remain undefeated for one more night.

“The comeback on Friday night was a real nail biter, but good teams will always find a way to win. We just couldn’t do that on Saturday,” Nemeth said.

Despite allowing only 1.5 goals per game heading into last weekend, the Illini defense watched as the Bronchos netted nine goals in the two-game series.

“They just had so many opportunities to score that no matter how well (goaltenders) (Mike) Burda and DJ (Kohler) play, they’re going to get goals no matter what,” Hoelzer said.

But all the Illini can do now is move forward.

“Now all we can focus on is starting a new streak of our own,” Nemeth said.