Inconsistency plagued the Illinois hockey team against Robert Morris over the weekend, giving up six goals in two games.

Before the series against Robert Morris, the Illinois hockey team had emphasized working on the defensive zone.

“We worked a lot on it in practice this whole week because we would give up a lot of really bad goals where we were not beating up guys in the slot,” winger James McGing said.

The work in practice paid off on Friday as the team secured a 5-2 win over Robert Morris. Saturday was a different story.

The Illini gave up three goals in the first period and the defense struggled to make stops.

Forward Chris Lozinak thinks the team needs to go back to the drawing board in regards to its defense.

“We need to start focusing on the minor details like D-zone, especially earlier in the week so it’s engraved in our heads when it comes time for the game,” Lozinak said.

Return to school helps Illini

Illinois had a short semester break before getting back into game action. While the rest of the University was out of session for a month, the hockey team only had a little over two weeks off. The Illini struggled in their first six games of second semester, going 1-5.

Head coach Nick Fabbrini said he thinks the lack of class affected the players’ performance.

“Being back here for two weeks with nothing to do but play hockey is tough,” Fabbrini said. “You think it’d go the other way, but I think class adds a lot of structure to these guys’ days.”

With class back in session, Illinois ended its five-game losing streak after splitting with Robert Morris.

“Now that we’re back and into the swing of things, I think we’re a lot more focused on the task at hand here,” Fabbrini said.

Slow start in net for Illinois

This season, Illinois goaltender Joe Olen suffered a groin injury. This past weekend against Robert Morris, the injury persisted.

Olen allowed two goals in the first period of Friday’s win and three goals in the first period of Saturday’s loss. He faced a total of 61 shots over the weekend and made 55 saves.

During the second period on Friday, Olen was subbed out for backup goaltender Zev Grumet-Morris as a precaution. Grumet-Morris made saves on all 12 shots he faced.

“He prepares every game like he’s going to play, whether he’s starting or not,” Fabbrini said. “He’s done a great job for us. Can’t say enough about him making big saves (Friday), especially right when he started that game.”

Olen played the entire game on Saturday.

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