It was a defensive affair in Indiana this weekend. 

No. 17 Illinois came away with a shutout victory over No. 25 Indiana on Friday, but fell 2-1 to the Hoosiers on Saturday.

The Illini defense was the key to Friday night’s 2-0 victory. The Hoosiers managed just 19 shots on goal the entire game, en route to senior goaltender Nick Clarke’s second shutout of the season.

On the other side of the ice, the Illini offense was efficient and effective, as it had a whopping 51 shots on goal. Senior forward John Scully and sophomore forward John Olen each scored goals, and the two goals were enough for a victory with the Illini’s performance on defense.

“I thought that it was a pretty good team defensive effort for the most part,” head coach Nick Fabbrini said. “Whenever you get a shutout, obviously your goaltender has to play well, but generally it comes from a great team effort, too. Those guys all stepped up Friday night.”

The Illini defense remained stout on Saturday, but allowed two early goals which would end up being the difference.

“We kind of took the first period off, and they took it to us and caught us off guard,” Scully said. “It’s just a case of not coming out and starting strong, so the first period is what really killed us.”

Scully scored his second goal of the weekend in the first period, and the 2-1 score held for the rest of the game. Illinois had its chances in the second and third periods, with multiple breakaway opportunities and a total of 47 shots on net, but couldn’t get anything to go.

“I think we made it really easy on (the Indiana goaltender on Saturday),” Fabbrini said. “When you have five breakaways, you’ve got to get at least one of those. We need to capitalize on those chances and we just didn’t do it, and it cost us the game.”

This was the third straight weekend split for the Illini, and they will remain on the road next weekend, traveling to Oklahoma.

Joey can be reached at [email protected] and @joeyfigueroa3