Illinois hockey (3-4) continues its road trip this weekend in search of an end to a cold streak of losses. The team will be going over to Pelham, Alabama to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide (2-8) for another double header this weekend.
Despite playing in three additional matches, Alabama sits three points behind Illinois in the Independent Division standings. This makes the two games this week an extremely crucial weekend for the Illini, who could drop to seventh in the conference MD1 Independent Division standings if they continue their losing streak.
Alabama is coming off its first two wins of the season, having won both of its games against Wake Forest last weekend thanks to nine goals on Friday night and seven goals the next day. That high-scoring weekend is a pleasant surprise for the Crimson Tide, who seem to finally see success on the ice after starting their season on an eight-game losing streak.
For Alabama, it starts with senior forward Chandelier Bilodeau who has a team-high of 12 points cataloged for the season. Totaling five goals and seven assists, Bilodeau has been able to be a reliable option on the ice.
Right up there with Bilodeau is sophomore forward Rolando Lopez, who is only one point shy of the team-high with 11 points. Lopez’s three goals scored and eight goals assisted have really opened up the offensive side of the ice. Freshman defenseman Parks Wallace has come into his own in the first 10 games and has already racked up 11 points as well. Two goals scored and nine goals assisted create another reliable weapon for the Tide.
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Last weekend, Alabama was able to put up an average of 46.5 shots on the opposing team’s goal, and it looks like that trend could carry into a pair of long nights for Illinois, which has had multiple games with high shots against its goal.
Illinois saw itself in the loss column again this past weekend, losing by five to Iowa State (6-1). Going into this weekend this does make every game against Alabama more and more important.
The team’s leading goal scorer is graduate forward Alek Bogdonoff, who has put puck to net four times this season. Alongside Bogdonoff is the team’s leading point scorer, sophomore forward Gregory Etingen, who has notched six points this season and is looking to add to the score sheet this weekend. On the defensive side of the ice, senior goalie Ben Mazurek is continuing to keep his save percentage in the 90th percentile; although after allowing six goals this past weekend, his save percentage dropped to .931.
Going up against another team that puts up a high number of shots on goal, the Illini will look to keep the puck on their side and should control the possession of the puck, limiting the Tide’s shots on goal.
This weekend is an important weekend as the Illini can easily fall farther in the standings, but if all goes well, the Illini can potentially move as high as the fourth spot in the division.
@Jon_Mathew23
