BENSENVILLE, Ill. – Roosevelt University's ACHA Division 1 men's hockey team could not sustain its momentum in the third period while getting swept by the University of Illinois on Friday and Saturday at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville.
Illinois held the advantage for most of the first period Friday night, opening the scoring just 2:40 into the game and maintaining it with a 13-9 advantage in shots. Griffin Lehet tied the game a little more than five minutes into the second period with an assist from Frank Moore. Danny Bdzoch gave the Lakers the lead with roughly seven minutes left in the second with Quinn Haller picking up an assist on the score.
Roosevelt gave up two quick goals at the start of the third period to once again fall behind the Fighting Illini, then left it until late to force an extra period. Zach Demarce scored his seventh goal of the season with less than two minutes left in regulation with Lehet and Bdzoch assisting on the game-tying tally. A five-minute extra session was not enough to decide the game and Illinois would win 4-3 in a shootout. Josh Brown kicked aside 37 of the 40 shots he faced in the shootout defeat, while Roosevelt managed 35 shots across the 65 minutes of action.
The Lakers (11-15-2) came out strong against the Fighting Illini on Saturday night, taking a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes on goals from Nick Privitera and Lehet. Roosevelt nearly doubled Illinois' shot output 15-8 in the opening period, breaking through a little more than eight minutes on Privitera's tally with assists from Lehet and Dylan Mettetal. Lehet doubled the lead with roughly four minutes left in the period with Mettetal adding a second assist in along with Bdzoch.
Illinois stormed back to tie the game in the second period by holding a 21-12 advantage in shots, keeping senior Nicholas Kotz busy. Yet Lehet made sure the Lakers would take a lead into the third period with his second goal of the game and third on the weekend with three minutes left in the stanza. The Fighting Illini tied the game less than a minute into the third then took their first lead of the game nearly nine minutes into the frame. Bdzoch, though, saved the day briefly with a power play tally with eight minutes left for his third point of the game as Mettetal added a third assist.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they could not hold onto a second tie in as many nights, as Illinois scored the winner with less than five minutes left to escape with a 5-4 triumph. Kotz finished with 37 saves in the Senior Night loss, as he was honored pregame along with A.J. Bailey and captain Frank Moore. The seniors have a few more chances to earn a victory on home ice with a pair of games next week against Calvin in Bensenville. Friday's game starts at 7:20 p.m. while Saturday's game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.
