Hoosiers dominate in weekend sweep

During the weekend, the IU hockey team showed offense can be the name of the game in a sport usually dominated by defense.\nThe Hoosiers completed a two-game sweep over the University of Dayton 9-1 Friday and 6-1 Saturday at the Frank Southern Center.\nFriday night, the Hoosiers mustered 70 shots en route to a blowout victory. Led by freshman forward David Murray, who had two goals and four assists, IU dominated from start to finish. IU out-shot the Flyers 33-5 in the first period, and 70-17 in the game. Sophomore forward Dan Karlander contributed a goal and four assists while junior forward Mark Fischer also added a goal along with two assists. Junior goaltender Jimmy Hugill picked up his fifth victory of the season, stopping 16 shots on goal.\n"We were able to pin them down in their zone throughout the entire game," IU head coach Rich Holdeman said. "Guys were circling the puck and creating a lot of offensive chances."\nFischer believes it was the Hoosier defense that really stood out this weekend.\n"Our defense has improved tremendously since last year and the start of this year," he said. "Last year we were winning games 7-6, 10-8 but right now, we're only giving up two goals a game. We're playing smarter and our checking has really improved."\nIn game two of the series Saturday, the Hoosiers extended their winning streak to four games and picked up their sixth win of the season. After a scoreless first period, Dayton scored the first goal two minutes into the second period. The Flyers lead did not last long, however, as IU tied up the game less than a minute later. They later added three more goals in the period. Sophomore goaltender Jory Zola and junior goalie Brien McCormick combined for the victory in net, saving 21 shots. Karlander continued his strong play, scoring a goal with two assists.\nHoldeman said he was very impressed with his team's execution and the fact that the Hoosiers gave up only two goals the entire weekend.\n"We stayed focused, scored some nice goals, and it was very nice to see us hold them to one goal each game," he said. "I particularly liked our forechecking. It was very aggressive and is something we've been working on."\nMurray agrees with Holdeman's assessment on how the team played this weekend.\n"With all the hard work we've been putting in, everything is starting to come together now," he said. "They just couldn't hang with us and it wasn't even close." \nAlthough the Hoosiers were able to control the Flyers in the weekend series, IU will have its hands full as the team travel to Champaign, Ill., to take on the undefeated and defending Division I Club Champion Fighting Illini. Murray said the Hoosiers know how important this week's practices will be.\n"We know it's going to be a different story next week playing against the very best team in the country," Murray said. "We are going to have to work extremely hard in practice this week and execute our systems"