2008 Woodie Awards
Illini Media
WPGU
buzz
Illio
TechnographHockey to compete in year's first road series
Undefeated Illini hope to continue success in Ann Arbor this weekend
By Wes Anderson
Posted: 11/1/07 Section: Sports
|
Having only played one of their nine games on the road so far this season, the Illini will hope that the momentum gained at the Ice Arena will carry over to a hostile environment.
The No. 1 Illini have dominated at home against ranked opponents, sweeping Central Oklahoma, Penn State and Lindenwood to start the season. But as the Eagles play host to the Illini at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, it will be Illinois' first road series to count in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League conference standings.
"We've always got to take another step," defenseman Ricky Gomez said. "We got out of the weekend still undefeated and we have to remain focused."
The series will be the last road games of 2007. After taking on the Eagles, Illinois' schedule includes a six-game homestand before the Illini's next road trip on Jan. 4.
Illinois earned eight points from its sweep of Lindenwood and trails No. 4 Ohio in the conference standings by 10 points. In pursuing their goal of a regular season conference title, every point is crucial for the Illini.
The Eagles are 3-3-0 in CSCHL play entering the series and are coming off a home victory against No. 5 Oakland, the defending national champions. Goaltender Eric Schardt, who had 36 saves in the victory, will likely be in the crease for the series.
The Illini will once again be contending with a smaller ice surface than they are accustomed to. Like most hockey rinks, the Ice Cube's standard width dwarfs that of the Ice Arena. Two weeks ago, the Illini, not used to the smaller rink at Lindenwood, narrowly avoided their first loss of the season, falling behind late before ultimately winning in a shootout.
The Illini have also been affected by injuries as a physical season hits full stride.
"We need everyone to step up and play a little better to fill in some of the gaps," head coach Chad Cassel said.
The Daily Illini encourages on-topic discussion through article commenting on its articles and blogs. It is our policy not to delete any comments based upon political or ideological point of view. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive, off-topic or use excessive foul language.
The posting of copyrighted material, including any and all content for which you are not the author, is illegal under Federal intellectual property laws. Such activity will not be tolerated. Comments containing copyrighted material will be removed, and continued violation of copyright law is grounds for being banned completely from commenting on DailyIllini.com.
If you feel any post meets these conditions or merits review, please e-mail our editors at meonline@dailyillini.com.
Be the first to comment on this story