You wouldn’t know the No. 7 Minot State hockey team is the defending ACHA national champion the way senior goaltender Nick Clarke handled it this weekend.

The Illinois hockey team played the best it has all season against Minot State under the leadership of Clarke, who shut out the Beavers on Friday night and carried the Illini in a narrow shootout defeat on Saturday.

Clarke stopped all 24 of the Beaver’s shots on goal in Friday night’s 2-0 victory and said he used the fact he was playing against the defending national champions as more incentive to win.

“That was huge,” he said of the shutout. “It was definitely in the back of my mind that it was going to be a great team and it definitely is good to use that as motivation.”

Clarke now has three shutouts this season, but with the Illini fighting for a spot in the ACHA tournament, none was more important than Friday’s.

Having given up just eight goals in regulation the last two weekends against two top-10 teams, Clarke has been at the top of his game, and head coach Nick Fabbrini thinks his play is trickling down to the rest of the team.

“When he’s on his game, he’s the best goalie in the country, in my opinion,” Fabbrini said. “I think when your goalie’s playing as well as he is, you’ve got a lot more confidence in being able to go and make plays in front of him. You’re not so worried about giving up a chance going the other way because you know you’ve got the best goalie in the country back there to make a save for you.”

After allowing three early goals in Saturday night’s contest, Clarke battened down the hatches and took over the game with some amazing saves that not only ignited the home crowd, but his teammates as well.

Clarke had five straight show-stopping saves during the shootout Saturday night, but his teammates just couldn’t get one in the net for him, and the Illini lost 4-3.

Just as they have all season, the rest of the team noticed Clarke’s big-time plays and wanted to win for him.

“He played a great game,” senior forward Eddie Quagliata said after Saturday’s loss. “He kept us in it, he made great saves. We’ve got to pull through for him. He knows that he’s going to keep us in games, and I expect him to play like this for the rest of the way.”

Clarke’s leadership, like his play, has been a major spark in the Illini’s recent resurgence. After Illinois lost 7-1 to Lindenwood in the beginning of January, the seniors got together and decided to change the culture and motivate the team to be better.

“We changed the environment in the locker room before games,” Clarke said. “Before it was a lot more loose, there was music being played, so we changed it up so in the locker it’s a lot quieter and guys are getting more mentally prepared. If we start to get away from that, it’s the leaders                       — the seniors and the captains   — speaking up and telling the guys to keep their heads in it and don’t get too loose.”

When asked if he has tried to mentor the other goalies on the roster, Clarke said he just tries to lead by example.

“I feel like my best strengths are that I’m a gamer,” Clarke said. “When it comes game time, that’s when I shine and that’s when I do my best, especially in those big games. So I just want to leave that on them. When it comes to games, play your game, make the saves you can make and just do whatever you can to get your team the win. That’s what I bring the most, my competitiveness.”

Clarke has had plenty of examples to take from growing up, as his father and grandfather both avidly played hockey. Clarke’s grandfather played for the Toronto Marlboros, a junior hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, and Clarke’s father played goalie for youth league teams in Canada for 15 years.

Clarke credits his father for getting him into hockey and wanting to be a goalie.

“He got me skating at about 5 years old, and right when I learned how to skate and stand on my feet, I actually strapped on the goalie pads and wanted to be a goalie,” he said. “So that’s what got me going.”

Clarke never actually saw his father play goaltender, but he has been taking his tips and pointers from when he was a child until now.

“Growing up, he was always tougher on me,” Clarke said of his father. “I didn’t really like it at a young age, but I’m definitely thankful for it now. I‘d always listen to what he’d have to say. Even now, I still talk to him after all the games. So I definitely listen to his word and try to use that to help me.”

Going into his final stretch of games playing for the Illini, Clarke will look to maintain his recent level play and give the rest of the team the spark it needs to make a run in the ACHA national tournament.

“He’s our best competitor,” Fabbrini said. “Both during games and in practice, he competes harder than anybody. It’s great to see him play with confidence, and I think it spills over to the rest of the guys.As long as he’s on top of his game like that and we continue to pay the price in front of him, we’re going to be in every game here going forward.”

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