Depth players lead team to wins

Saturday night, there weren't many smiles bigger than that of Hoosier center Rhys Anderson.\nIt wasn't just that he had picked up a goal and an assist for his first multipoint game of the season. It wasn't just that he had done so against IU's biggest rival, Michigan State. It wasn't just that his efforts helped result in a 4-1 victory for the Hoosiers (6-2).\nIt was a familiar face behind the Spartan goaltending mask that provided the extra incentive for Anderson. Michigan State goaltender Sean Huberty is a former teammate of Anderson's from Culver Military Academy in Culver, Ind., and the sophomore had no intention of keeping quiet about his two-point effort.\n"He's one of my good friends," Anderson said. "It's kind of like our last fling here playing at IU. It's good to see some guys you know, and it's always more fun to come out on top."\nAnderson gave the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead five minutes into the opening frame when he pounced on a setup from sophomore Justin Peck and rifled a wrist shot that trickled through Huberty's pads. Huberty, of course, refused to give his ex-teammate any credit for the play.\n"It just barely trickled in," Huberty joked. "Rhys got lucky."\nHuberty found himself the target of some effective heckling from the rowdy IU crowd that on the previous night appeared to get in the head of Ferris State goaltender Doug Peacock. Peacock was beaten for two soft goals shortly after the opening faceoff. At one point in the first period, the fans behind Huberty were so rambunctious that the game had to be stopped for five minutes to fix a pane of broken glass.\n"It's got to be intimidating to play in front of, when they're making so much noise and banging on the glass like that," sophomore Zach Vietri said.\nAnderson and Vietri combined with senior Matt Voll for two goals and what may have been the Hoosiers' top line Saturday night. \nAfter shuffling around with different combinations on the third and fourth line all season, coach Rich Holdeman appears to have stumbled upon something with the gritty trio. \n"We like to go in there and bang," Vietri said. "We create a lot of room for ourselves and the other lines. We've been playing a lot the last couple games and so far we haven't been scored on yet."\n"I love playing with them. We just go out and hit, bang, give it everything we have," Anderson said.\nAnderson now has four points in seven games this year. The 5'10'', 200-pound center is a veteran of the North American Hockey League, the junior league that has produced such NHL talents as Brian Rolston, Doug Weight and Brian Holzinger. \n"Points were hard to come by against Michigan State," Holdeman said. "Having those guys step up and get some goals was great. We were joking that we didn't think Voll could get a shot on net, let alone rip one in. The guy's penalty killing has been outstanding. He and Vietri have been great." \nFriday night, the quick-skating Ferris State team invaded Bloomington and gave the Hoosiers their toughest home match this season. It was the Hoosiers' first inter-conference game of the year. The Bulldogs fought back from an early deficit before falling short 4-3. Freshman David Ravensberg and senior Bryan Grant each had three points on the night.