Cyclones give hockey Halloween scare

Lauren Lenkowski

Junior forward Mike Roesch must have dressed up as Mighty Mouse this year, because he saved the day twice against archrival Iowa State this weekend.

Roesch led the Illini's third-period comeback charges both nights, scoring five goals and one assist in a pair of 4-2 wins.

The entire weekend, the Cyclones were fueled by comments made on Friday by Illini senior forward Jim Rogers, who said he hated Iowa State and Ames, Iowa as well. His comments were highlighted and hung all over the arena, but Rogers said it just fueled him more.

Roesch said when he was stretching before the game, he tore down the hanging comments he came across.

"We definitely felt the need to back up everything that was said," Roesch said.

Friday night, freshman defenseman Marty Stratte's goal in the second period put the Illini on the board first, but the Illini defense crumbled to give the Cyclones two goals in the final three minutes of the period.

"We had a mental lapse at the end, but, leaving the locker room to start the third, we were determined to win," senior forward Brian Coleman said.

Roesch tied the game in the opening minutes of the third and tacked on another ten minutes later to give the Illini the lead. Coleman added one more to ice the game and the comeback victory for Illinois.

On Saturday, the Illini found themselves in a hole once again -down 2-0 heading into the third period. But Roesch again took the team on his back and scored two goals in the third period to tie the game.

In a bitter twist of fate for the Cyclones, the trash-talking Rogers scored what ended up being the game-winner two minutes later. Roesch then scored once more at the end of the period for his third goal.

"It shows we can come together as a team and not give up," Rogers said.

The two wins prove the Illini can do something they had trouble doing last year - close out a team in the third period. On several occasions last season, including in the league championship game, the Illini lost leads in the third period.

"We have character and you can see that," Coleman said. "There's something about the team this season and our determination."

But winning two games on the road against Iowa State doesn't mean the end of the Cyclones; they come to Champaign this weekend with the two disappointing losses still fresh in their minds.

"I think (winning twice in Iowa) is going to bring a lot of fire to this weekend's games (against Iowa State) because they are going to want to get back those points," Rogers said.