All season long, the Illinois hockey team has searched for consistency.

After its two games against Lindenwood this weekend, the Illini are still searching.

No. 7 Illinois (11-4-2) split the pair of games against No. 10 Lindenwood (5-6-3) and looked like two completely different teams in the separate games.

Friday’s contest was a success for the Illini, powering their way to a 5-3 victory.

In spite of some defensive letdowns in the second period, the Illinois offense controlled the play and put pressure on the Lions all game long.

The five Illini goals were netted by five different players.

The fireworks started right from the drop of the puck, when not even 100 seconds into the game, senior forward Nick Stuercke wrapped around the net and left the puck in front of the net for Mario Pacheco to hammer home the goal to put Illinois up 1-0.

“Against a good team like that, you definitely want to get on the board first,” head coach Nick Fabbrini said.

Holding a 2-0 lead after the first period, Illinois played a much sloppier second period. Defensive lapses in the middle of the period for Illinois allowed Lindenwood to tie up the game with two goals in 1:25 of play. However, the Illini would respond in turn just 37 seconds later when defenseman J.T. Turner knocked one off the post and in to give Illinois a lead it would not relinquish.

“You saw the momentum with the crowd,” forward John Scully said. “They were up and then down. … You can’t get too high or too low.”

“I told the guys after the game, we’ve got to back it up (Saturday),” Fabbrini said. “(Friday’s) win doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.”

Friday’s game featured just one penalty, a five-minute major on Lindenwood for boarding, but Saturday’s affair would be a completely different story.

Illinois, known for Saturday letdowns the past two weekends against Ohio and Iowa State, actually came out and played well in the first, and tallied the period’s only goal when Derek Schultz finished a one-timer from freshman John Olen to pick up another early 1-0 lead.

In the second period, however, Lindenwood found another gear offensively. The Lions exploded for five goals on just 10 shots and blew the game wide open.

“The second period has been a struggle for us all year,” Stuercke said.

The turning point in the game was with the score tied 2-2 on a 4-on-3 Illinois power play, Lindenwood forward Zach Glazer blocked a shot and raced up ice to deke Illini goalie Nick Clarke for the shorthanded goal.

The second and third periods featured a lot of chippy play, leading to a a fight between numerous players on both sides that led to a combined eight ejections.

“It’s disappointing,” center Austin Bostock said. “We come out and play these great games Friday and then we can’t answer it.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.