Before embarking on a two-and-a-half hour bus ride to Bloomington, Ind., the Illinois hockey team had one thing on its mind: snap the streak.
Coming into Friday’s contest, the Illini had lost three straight overall and five consecutive games on Saturdays. Illinois ended both streaks this weekend by getting a much-needed sweep over Indiana, which resulted in 12 CSCHL points in the standings.
“These wins were huge for us,” junior forward Jacob Matysiak said. “Not only because we finally got a sweep, but because these wins have huge implications for the league standings.”
The first game between the Illini and Hoosiers turned out to be a barnburner, as both teams combined to score 12 goals, took 93 shots and racked up 61 penalty minutes. Illinois took an early 2-0 lead, only to see it fade as Indiana fought back to tie the game midway through the second period. The Illini would tack on two more goals to take a 4-3 lead into the third and would never look back. Illinois eventually would take a four-goal lead after Matysiak, freshman Kevin Chowaniec and senior defenseman Mike Evans scored goals. The Hoosiers cut the lead to two, but the Illini hung on for a 7-5 victory.
Saturday’s showdown was marred by a broken ice resurfacer, which left the two teams playing on rough ice for the final two periods of the game. The unsmoothed ice significantly slowed down the pace of the game, leading to a much-tighter outcome, a 2-1 victory for the Illini. Matysiak scored his second goal of the weekend, and senior forward Scott Barrera netted the game-winner.
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The lack of a smooth ice surface allowed the Illini to play a slower, more simplified game, Matysiak said.
“We made sure not to use the ice as an excuse,” he said. “Both teams had the disadvantage. It was harder to make fancy passes and plays so we just made sure to simplify our game.”
Matysiak replaced injured sophomore forward Derek Schultz, joining sophomore Mario Pacheco and senior Jonathon Sakellaropoulos on a line that “dominated” Saturday’s game. Matysiak’s goals this weekend were his first in his Illinois hockey career.
“There were no chemistry issues with us,” he said of playing with a new line. “We made the game simple for ourselves, worked hard, and it worked out for us in the end. We made sure to keep grinding in the corners, keep the puck low and got it to the net.”
Blake can be reached at [email protected].
