Indiana club hockey won three games and lost one in the first two away sets of the 2023-24 season.
The club played Bowling Green State University on Sept. 15 and 16 at Slater Family Ice Arena . Indiana took a 6-2 win in the first game. Junior forward Drew Micheli scored early during the first push of the game Friday, Sept. 15, with an assist from senior defenseman Matthew McKay.
Despite Indiana’s success on Friday, the club fell 5-3 to Bowling Green’s aggressive play on Saturday, Sept. 16. This was the club’s first loss to Bowling Green in two years.
All goals scored in the games against Bowling Green were scored by returning players, not new recruits.
Andrew Gus, an Indiana club hockey commentator, said he feared the club was dealing with a case of “Saturday scaries” in the Sept. 16 broadcast for Indiana Hockey Broadcast Network. He recalled the club fell into a pattern of Friday wins and Saturday losses during the 2022-23 season.
The club denied that pattern this weekend Sept. 22 and 23 against Concordia University Wisconsin, 343 miles away at Ozaukee Ice Center. Indiana split their opening matches against Concordia last year with a win at the first game and a loss at the second, but managed to sweep both games this season.
Concordia came out strong on Friday, leading Indiana 1-0 through the first period, but the Hoosiers found their rhythm and finished with a 6-3 win. Forwards Aidan Simoneau and Nicholas Castracane, a junior and sophomore respectively, each scored two goals.
In the second game of the series against Concordia, Simoneau went on to score two more goals, bringing his weekend tally to four. Zach Hardy, a freshman defenseman, scored his first career goal in the first period. Hardy is the first freshman on the team to score this season. The club finished the match with a 4-3 win.
Indiana will play the University of Cincinnati on Sept. 29 and 30 at Queen City Sportsplex, which is a 2.5-hour drive from Bloomington. The club won both of its games against Cincinnati last season.
