Indiana club ice hockey looks to its matchup with Michigan State this weekend after two successful weekend performances in September. Last weekend, the club split its pair of games against Miami University, winning game one Sept. 23 and losing game two Sept. 24.
The 2-2 team is pushing towards a winning record. Primarily, the scoring talent around the club is very widespread — Indiana has had nine different goals scorers over the past four games.
Additionally, the Hoosiers have been strong on the power kill. Goalies sophomore Samy Bilis and freshman Jack Thomson were able to stop a large majority of shots from going into the net.
“Our penalty killing is really good and a big part of that is stopping the opposing team’s break-in,” sophomore forward Aidan Simoneau said. “If you let a team set up, there’s really nothing you can do besides try and get in the way.”
While Bilis and Thomson have starting records of 2-0 and 0-2 respectively, it’s not to be mistaken that the team has been put in favorable positions because of both goalies. Head coach Andrew Weiss said he believes that both goalies are suited for the starting job and giving each of them time to rest, especially in long series is required.
“We have at minimum two starting goalies,” Weiss said. “We view Bilis as A1 and Thomson as A2. I just don’t think we’ve played well in front of Thomson, and I think our guys would probably admit that.”
While the team has had its fair share of success to start the season, they’ll need that and more to be able to secure a 2-0 sweep versus the Spartans. Indiana has had a tough start to the season, as all three of its first matchups come against high-ranking teams in the ACHA Division II league.
The club will take on Michigan State at 7 p.m. Friday in the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan. The second game of the series takes place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Suburban Ice Arena in East Lansing.
