Hoosiers fail to win first title

Before the Hoosiers headed to Rochester, N.Y., to compete in the 2006 American Collegiate Hockey Association Championship Tournament last week, IU coach Rich Holdeman pointed to one game that would decide how his team would fare throughout the tournament -- its matchup with Oakland University. \nIn the first game of a round-robin set that required IU to win all three games, the Hoosiers dropped a heartbreaking overtime affair, 10-9, to eventual champion Oakland. The Hoosiers ultimately lost their next two games throughout the course of the week, failing to capture their first-ever national championship.\nWith a total of 33 penalties, 19 goals and 104 shots on goal between the two teams, the Hoosiers' game with Oakland turned into a slugfest. Out of the 10 Oakland goals, seven came on power plays when IU's special teams were unable to stop the Golden Grizzlies' attack. \nThough the Hoosiers outscored Oakland by four goals in even-strength situations, they fell behind 8-3 in special teams circumstances, a problem the Hoosiers couldn't fix, Holdeman said.\n"Unfortunately, the ref was calling the game extremely tight so there were a lot more special teams situations than a normal game," he said.\nFiring 40 shots on goal, IU managed to go punch-for-punch with Oakland. IU scored three goals in the first period, five more in the second and one in the third. Coming into the game, the Hoosiers had been scoring about four and a half goals a game, but were able to capitalize on their opportunities against their foes.\n"(Oakland's) goaltending was very shaky," IU \nsophomore forward Dan Karlander said. "It's what mostly kept us in the game."\nAfter the loss to Oakland -- with their chances of advancing to the semifinals unlikely -- the Hoosiers dropped their next two games of the tournament, falling 8-3 to Stoney Brook University and suffering a 3-1 defeat to the University of Colorado the following day. Wrapping up their season and dropping their final three games was disappointing, senior captain Bill Ravensberg said, but he was proud of his team's effort throughout the tournament.\n"Overall, (it was) not what we hoped for," he said. "But I felt the guys played hard and fought. It just did not work out the way we had hoped."\nCoaching in his final games as head coach, Holdeman has served as a fixture for the Hoosiers hockey team for the past 13 seasons.\nTallying a record 251 wins as head coach, Holdeman said he was content with how his team played in his final games. \n"Although we did not win, I was proud of the way we represented ourselves," he said. "The fact that Oakland won the whole tournament certainly demonstrates that our team was on par with the best teams out there. \nIt has been a great blessing to coach this group of players."\nRavensberg, a four-year participant, said he felt disappointed that his team couldn't give Holdeman a championship trophy, but said he was optimistic about the how the team will fare next season.\n"I felt bad that Coach H. and the other seniors had to go out the way we did, but I wish the best of luck next year," he said. "I feel they have as good a chance as any team to win the whole thing"