Hoosiers bury Purdue in two straight

After scoring just one goal in the first period Friday, the Hoosier hockey team bounced back, netting 23 goals in the next five periods and crushing Purdue 12-1 both Friday and Saturday night.\nDespite IU's slow start Friday at the Fishers Ice Arena, the team had no problem picking up the pace in the second period. The Hoosiers rallied to grab a 7-1 lead before the period's end and easily skated to victory.\n"The first period was pretty lackluster," coach Rich Holdeman said. "In the second period, we finally started to get our momentum."\nIn his first playing opportunity in more than two months, sophomore goalie Charlie Pulley shut down the Purdue offense, making 26 saves and allowing just one goal in the contest.\n"It's always rough to give up one and be so close to a shutout, but I was happy with it," Pulley said. \nFriday's massacre saw 12 Hoosiers contribute to the offensive effort. In his first game back in a Hoosier jersey after a semester off, senior defenseman Brad Lutsch got back into his game with two goals and two assists. Junior defenseman Tim McMahon also contributed two goals and two assists.\n"Playing felt pretty good," said Lutsch, who finished the weekend with six points. "It was good to finally play a game, even if the competition level was lacking.\n"More than 600 people packed the Frank Southern Center for the Saturday night rematch. But it seemed the game was over before it even started, as the Hoosiers jumped to a commanding 3-1 lead in just more than five minutes of play.\nJunior forward and captain Dan Hauck led the way for IU Saturday. Hauck chalked up the first Hoosier hat trick of the season, scoring three goals and contributing three assists in the contest. Junior forward and assistant captain Bryan Grant chipped in with two goals and four assists.\nAlthough the Hoosiers entered the contest planning to pull Justin Wojtowicz at the halfway point, the senior and leading Hoosier goalie made an impressive effort, allowing just one goal in more than 26 minutes on the ice. His replacement, senior goalie Chad Whitlock, responded by not allowing the Purdue offense to score in the final 27:30 of the game.\n"It was nice to get off to a good start (Saturday), especially with the amount of people here," assistant coach and general manager Alex Kyrias said. "I think the guys have fun playing in front of a crowd like that."\nThe emotional highlight of Saturday's contest came with about eight and a half minutes remaining in the second period. A small collision in front of the Purdue goal led to a full-scale brawl and resulted in the disqualification of two Boilermakers and two Hoosiers. Sophomore forward Frank Harrison and freshman forward Zach Vietri were thrown out of Saturday's game and will sit out Friday's contest with Miami (Ohio) University.\n"We lost two guys I wanted to have next week, so I'm not happy at all," Holdeman said. "But at the same time, I don't know what they could've done differently."\nThe Hoosiers will host Miami at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Frank Southern Center, 1965 S. Henderson Ave. IU leads the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League with 19 league points. Miami, with 12 points, sits in third place. \nDespite the conference standings, IU is ranked fourth in the American Collegiate Hockey Association's Division II rankings, where Miami is ranked third.