Hockey club to face D-II national champions

The IU men’s hockey team’s tough schedule does not let up this weekend.

Davenport University (5-1), back-to-back American Collegiate Hockey Association D-II national champions, will be looking to continue their hot start to season at the expense of the Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers (2-6) lost to Davenport in the national championship two years ago and a strong rivalry still exists between the programs.

The two teams square off for a pair of games at Frank Southern Arena in Bloomington. Game one is 9:15 p.m. on Friday and game two is 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Head coach Tom Orr expects another series against a high-level hockey program.

“They are a real physical team with a lot of experience,” he said. “It’s the best D-II team around and, again, will be talent Bloomington has never seen.”

Davenport is in their transition year from D-II to D-I and will want to prove they belong by defeating the D-I Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers need to rebound after four straight loses at the hands on No. 7 Iowa State and No. 2 Illinois.

The effort IU put on the ice last weekend kept them in the game against Illinois, but that intensity will need to remain if the Hoosiers want two wins coming out of this weekend.
One of the team’s struggles was getting the puck past a tenacious Illini defense. Sophomore left-wing Erik Skjodt knows that to stay competitive against Davenport, the team’s offense must excel.

“We need to work on getting the puck down low,” he said. “Making better passes and being smarter with the puck is key.”

IU had difficulties executing with power plays and penalty kills against the Illini. Senior right-wing Mike Vaughan said that after a week of practice the Hoosiers hoped to now use these to their benefit.

Vaughan saw the effort the team put out against Illinois and hopes that will be matched to take on another big opponent.

“We’ve been spending time with the special teams and with Davenport being one of the best teams in the country, we need to take advantage of this,” he said. “We need to keep up with them and their individual talent.”