3-game weekend split for hockey team

The hockey team's three-game weekend with Minnesota and Illinois ended with mixed results. In their final contests before the conference championship series, the Hoosiers defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 6-4 at the Frank Southern Center, then were swept Friday and Saturday at Illinois.\nIU (16-9-2, 11-1-2 Midwest Collegiate Hockey League) got off to a quick start Friday against a late-arriving Minnesota team, rattling off five goals in the first period to take a 5-0 lead. Junior forward and assistant captain Bryan Grant knocked in three goals and became the first Hoosier to have a one-period hat trick this season.\nAs the game progressed, the Hoosiers began to lose the momentum that had propelled them to a lead in the first period. IU scored only once in the game's final two periods and escaped from a rallying Minnesota team with a 6-4 victory.\n"We came out and played well in the first period, then kind of folded after that," Grant said. "It was more of being pretty pissed off at ourselves. We were a lot better team than they were, and there was no reason they should have come near us."\nThe Hoosiers jumped out to another early lead Friday against Illinois' Division-I team. Sophomore forward Clint Heiber scored a quick goal. A second Hoosier goal was then disallowed.\nIllinois bounced back, scoring two goals to end the first period and then four unanswered goals in the second.\n"The second period they scored four unanswered goals -- that kind of knocked us out," coach Rich Holdeman said.\nMissing three key players from the lineup Saturday, including Grant, did not help the Hoosiers' chances against Illinois as the Illini swept the series with a 5-1 win. Senior goalie Justin Wojtowicz stood out for the Hoosiers Saturday, allowing 5 Illini goals in 40 attempted shots.\n"The goaltending was pretty good this weekend. (Illinois) had seven power play goals this weekend," assistant coach and general manager Alex Kyrias said. "We were 5-on-3 four times. It wasn't that we were that dirty, it was just very questionable officiating."\nThe MCHL tournament begins Friday in Fishers, Ind. The Hoosiers have the No. 1 seed in the tournament, facing 8th-seeded Toledo in the first round. If victorious, the Hoosiers will face either Kentucky or Dayton in the second round, while favorites for the final game include Michigan, Miami of Ohio and IU.