Chargers bring out Illini’s weaknesses

by Jackie Pokryfke
Daily Illini sports reporter

After sweeping the No. 1 team in the country last weekend, the No. 4 Illinois men’s hockey team dropped two exhibition games to the Chicago Chargers, a team made up of ex-professionals and collegiate players, on home ice Friday and Saturday night.

On Friday night, the Illini had a lackluster performance, according to assistant coach Drew Livingston, and fell to the Chargers 7-4 in front of a rowdy crowd at the Ice Arena.

"For us it comes down to the basics," Livingston said. "What we didn’t do tonight was out-hustle them to the puck, play physically and play smart. When we do those things, we’ll beat anybody. When we don’t, we can barely beat anybody."

The Illini fell behind 2-0 early in the first period before Illinois forward Bill Lussow got on the board with an unassisted goal at the 13:37 mark. Illinois forward Vince Ippolito tied the game at two at 17:27 with his fourth goal of the season from Andy Havlir and Mike Large.

"I think they came and sat back and watched a little bit before they decided what kind of game they were in rather than deciding what kind of game they were going to play and play their type of game," Livingston said of the Illini. "That caught us. This type of team takes advantage of the little opportunities they have and they made the most of it."

The Chargers broke open the scoring only 1:28 into the second period on a goal from Chuck Linkenheld. The Chargers added two more goals before Illini forward Mark Riehle scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway at 14:38 to cut the lead to 5-3. Linkenheld scored again before the close of the second period to put the Chargers up 6-3 after two.

Chris Casper added another Charger goal at 12:30 in the third period and Illinois forward Jason Boe scored the final Illini goal at 15:51 to make the final score 7-4.

On Saturday night, the Illini came out with a better effort, but again fell short in a 4-3 overtime loss.

Unlike Friday night, Illinois scored first on a power-play goal from Riehle more than 15 minutes into the game. But the Chargers quickly tied the game up less than a minute later. A short-handed goal from Lussow gave the Illini a 2-1 lead after the first period.

Another Charger goal at the beginning of the second period tied the game at two, but an Illini goal from forward Mike Large came at 13:45 for a 3-2 lead into the third.

The Chargers scored the lone goal in the third period to tie the game at three and force overtime. With 37 seconds left in the overtime period, Shawn Summerville scored on a rebound to give the Chargers a 4-3 victory.

Despite the losses, both games provided more ice time for some of the younger players, as many Illinois players were out with injuries, but Livingston said the younger players all performed well in the games.

"We’ve got a lot of hurt players right now so we have a mix-up in our lines and the rest of the squad," Livingston said. "But they’ve all played before at some point. I think it was a good opportunity for them. It’s a shame the rest of the vets didn’t show them how to come out and play the right type of game."

Despite the losses, Livingston said there were some bright spots for the team, especially the play of goalies Sam Eaton and Gregg Cooper and forwards Riehle and Ippolito.

"I was proud of Cooper," he said. "I thought Riehle and Ippolito both skated hard. I thought there was some heart out there. It just wasn’t a team heart."

The Illini will be in action over Thanksgiving break at the Chicago Classic Tournament at the Glenview Ice Center in Glenview, Ill. Illinois will face Colorado on Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. and, depending on the results, could end up with another match against rival Iowa State, the former No. 1 team the Illini swept two weekends ago.