Hoosiers sweep Boilers

The brooms came out Saturday night as the Hockey Hoosiers capped off a sweep of in-state and division rival Purdue.\nIU won the first game, played in Fishers, Ind., 6-2 and netted their second win of the weekend with a 5-2 effort in Bloomington the following day.\nThe two rivals treated fans to classic contests between the bitter rivals, highlighted by countless penalty minutes and a benches-clearing brawl.\nWith time winding down in the second period of Friday's game, a Purdue defenseman threw an illegal knee on a fast-breaking Hoosier. As the IU team responded to protect their downed skater, the benches from both sides cleared and pandemonium ensued.\nIU then rallied, putting the game out of reach by killing a five-on-three shorthanded penalty situation. But the damage was already done, as the brawl led nine Hoosiers and several Boilermakers to suspension for Saturday's contest, with a few more suspended into next week.\nIU coach Brad Lutsch said while he did not advocate the skirmish, he also did not agree with the mass suspensions, which were mandated by the league.\n"It makes things tough when you are forced to finish the game with only five players on the bench," Lutsch said. "But it was good to see how we were able to work through it."\nIU carried their momentum into the rematch. While Purdue drew first blood with a shorthanded goal only four minutes into the first period, the IU offense put the pressure on an undermanned Boilermaker squad.\nJunior forward David Ravensberg scored the first of IU's five goals in a pileup in front of the net with three minutes remaining in the period. The 1-1 tie at the first intermission would be as close as the game would get.\nGoals from sophomore Jon Laughner and senior David Dassell put IU up two goals late in the second, when the Hoosiers seemed to put the game out of reach. Only one minute later, another IU goal came on a power play situation, with Ravensberg slamming home his second goal of the night.\n"With nine guys gone for tonight, we knew we had to get up on them quick," Laughner said of his team's offensive performance. "With the small rink, we got all over them. Then we let our conditioning take care of the rest."\nAfter building a commanding lead by the end of the second period, IU capitalized on their penalty killing and their defense, not allowing for any Purdue offense in the last twenty minutes.\nSophomore defenseman Bill Ravensberg, brother of offensive standout David, said in a rivalry game such as this one, being aggressive on both offense and defense was the difference.\n"We really aren't too happy with the way we played this weekend," Ravensberg said. "Our aggressiveness kept us out of trouble and we got a lot of shots on net. We need to score more and concentrate on staying out of the penalty box.\n"But the guys played hard. After what happened last night, we weren't going to let them win here. It was a good win to get without having half our team."\nThese two wins kept IU (10-4-7-1) in third place in the Great Midwest Hockey League, as the last place team to advance to Nationals in February.\nThe Hoosiers look to continue their winning ways as they defend Frank Southern Arena next weekend, Jan. 23 and 24, against Ohio State.