The Illini hockey club team is only human.

This weekend the Illini split their two game series against Eastern Michigan, winning 4-2 on Friday and losing in overtime 5-4 on Saturday.

Their loss is the Illini's first at home since Nov. 23, when they also lost in overtime.

The Illini started off the weekend strong on Friday night, scoring first on a goal by sophomore forward Brett Duncan almost two minutes into the first period.

Missed scoring opportunities by the Illini highlighted the rest of the first and second period. They entered the third period up by only one goal despite outshooting the Eagles 26-15.

"We just weren't there mentally in the first two periods," junior forward Jim Rogers said. "We didn't bury our opportunities when we had the chance and that left the door open for them to come back."

Early in the third period, the scoring drought was broken when Rogers gave the Illini a two-goal lead while on the power play.

But the Eagles wouldn't die.

The Illini showed their weakness on special teams by giving up a shorthanded goal to the Eagles soon after to bring the game within one.

The puck appeared to be kicked by Eagle's freshman forward Mike Opyd, and immediately after the goal, Danlow protested to the officials to no avail.

Danlow said the referees weren't in good position to see the play but made the best call they could from their point of view.

The Illini recovered later when senior forward Pat Olson scored to make it 3-1, and swung the momentum back to Illinois.

Friday night ended with the Illini skating to a victory and four points in league standings.

But Saturday, despite a visit from former Illini forward Joel Superfine, the Illini's weaknesses became exposed.

Again, the Illini started off strong, crashing the net and scoring first early in the game.

But Eastern Michigan was able to test freshman goaltender Mike DeGeorge early and put one past him when he came out of the net to poke check Eagles sophomore forward Derek Wilson. Wilson was able to avoid it and tie the game with the Eagles second shorthanded goal of the weekend.

"I'm an aggressive goalie, I make decisions like that all the time ... but anytime you make a mistake like that and it costs you the game, it's tough," DeGeorge said.

Illinois answered back 20 seconds later on a goal by senior forward Kyle Zabrin, but the Illini's lax defense led to another goal sneaking by DeGeorge to tie the game once again.

The Illini then scored twice in the second period to give them a commanding 4-2 lead, that would later be squandered.

"We had opportunities to score and we didn't," Illini head coach Chad Cassel said. "We had a few mental lapses defensively where a few guys decided they weren't going to play defense, and the next thing you know it's a tie game."

Regulation ended at a 4-4 tie and with their backs against the wall in overtime, the Illini turned the puck over, allowing freshman forward Kelly Koester to score the game winner.

"I hope this is a little wake-up call for us," Cassel said. "I think tonight we thought we could just show up and go through the motions to get the win, and we're not that good of a team."

Cassel said the Illini have to play their best every night and work hard to win consistently.

"We got what we deserved," Cassel said. "We just have to come out and learn from this, have a good week of practice and work hard to make sure we never have this feeling again."