Undefeated Hoosiers look to go 6-0 after pair of games with Redhawks

The IU club hockey team will take on Dayton on Friday in Bloomington, marking just the second home game of the season for the Hoosiers.

Last week, the Hoosiers came away from Wright State with a pair of wins to remain undefeated at 4-0.

After the Friday game in Bloomington, the team will travel to Dayton, Ohio, for a second game on Saturday.

The Flyers are 0-3-1 coming into this week, after tying with Rider two weeks ago to end a three-game losing streak.

IU coach Tom Orr said he feels Dayton will come out strong against his team.
“They’re a good team, but low-ranked, so they’ll be coming to play hard,” Orr said. “We anticipate another tough game. If we don’t play well, they’ll beat us.”

If the Hoosiers can sweep Dayton this weekend, it will be the third team in a row they have shut out of the win column, and would make them 6-0. Orr said he realizes how important an undefeated record would be.

“It’s definitely a goal any team would have – to go undefeated,” he said. “To be 6-0 would means we would have had to win close games.”

After getting two hard-fought victories against Kentucky and Wright State, Orr said he feels Dayton will be just as difficult to beat, especially in terms of strength.

“They’re right in there,” he said. “A lot of these non-(Great Midwest Hockey League) teams are kind of physical, and we expect that from them. We’re a team they’re always circling on their calendar.”

Despite its record and early-season performance, Orr said he sees plenty of room for improvement with his team.

“The big thing that we haven’t been doing is putting the puck in the net,” he said. “We’ve been working on goal scoring all week. That’s one thing that I’m really looking for this week – we need to do better on the scoreboard.”

He feels his team will meet that challenge as they continue to improve after a “really intense week of practice.”

The Hoosiers will be playing their second home game of the season and their first since the season opener against the Wildcats. Orr said he thinks the team plays a little stronger at home.

“We want to have a road-warrior mentality when we go on the road, but we always love playing at home,” he said. “That is one of our goals – to go undefeated at home.”

Sophomore Justin Lincoln will again be the starting goalie. There will be a few lineup changes as the team plays its last non-conference game before Great Midwest Hockey League play begins the following week with a game at Davenport.

“This weekend is the player’s last chance to show what they got,” Orr said. “The auditioning is kind of coming to an end this week.”