Indiana club ice hockey took on Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, and dominated the first game 8-1. After beating the Spartans on Friday, the Hoosiers were shutout 0-4 on Saturday.
On Friday afternoon, the Hoosiers cruised in game one of the series, taking the Spartans down in an 8-1 victory. The Hoosiers jumped on top in the first period and they never looked back, going on a power play to swing momentum their way at the beginning of the game.
Just 2 minutes and 56 seconds into the first, senior forward Jack Null was able to put one by senior goalie Lucas Chapel, giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead immediately after the power play ended.
Later into the first period, the team created a passing play in which junior forward Matthew McKay connected a nice one-timer from sophomore forward Aidan Simoneau to put Indiana up two.
To finish the period, the Hoosiers put in one more goal after a set of rebounds was finished off by sophomore forward Drew Michelli. The club headed to the locker room for the first break up 3-0.
The second period also went in favor of Indiana, with freshman forward Emiliano Arana scoring his first goal of the season on a top shelf shot. Sophomore forward Jack O’Flaherty also added on one to make the lead five going into the second intermission.
[Related: Indiana club ice hockey splits rivalry series with Miami 1-1 after pair of long-fought games]
Sophomore forward Aidan Simoneau tacked one on to start the third going five-hole on Chapel in a short-handed situation. The Hoosiers scored two more including another short-handed situation before the Spartans’ sophomore forward Torrey Schwartz scored a goal on a Michigan State power play.
“I think we played IU hockey, so having good energy right off the hop up and just kind of took advantage off a good start,” head coach Andrew Weiss said. “We rode that momentum for the entire game.”
On Saturday, the Hoosiers made a familiar change at goalie — one which coach Weiss believes isn’t a drastic change — by putting in freshman goalie Jack Thomson to close out the series in his third start of the year. Early on, sophomore forward Thomas Purton scored the first goal, putting it beyond Thomson to give the Spartans their first lead of the series.
Scoring in the second period broke open 12 seconds in, when sophomore defenseman Brendan Murphy ripped a shot past Thomson to put the Spartans up two. Not slowing down, sophomore Kyle Switzer capitalized on a passing play and kept it pouring on Thomson. The team pulled Thomson and put Bilis into game, but it didn’t seem to matter as Michigan State kept scoring.
The Spartans got their fourth goal of the game with junior Matt Cull scoring on a wrister to put the Spartans in a commanding four goal lead to end the second period. The third period had no scoring as, despite the Hoosiers' best efforts, the puck was in the defensive zone most of the time.
With the Hoosiers once again taking the first game of the series and losing the second, they move to 3-3 on the year with two weeks until their next game. Indiana’s next set of games will be on Oct. 14 and 15, against Bowling Green State University in the home-opener at Frank Southern Ice Arena in Bloomington.
“We had a couple injuries today, but I think, all in all, we’re feeling pretty good just trying to get better every day, to continue to develop,” Weiss said.
