Sweep over Illinois runs #8 Maroon win streak to 13, boosts ranking to #8!
Champaign, IL - The Robert Morris Maroon Men's Hockey team swept their weekend series with the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois, running their winning streak to thirteen games--the longest in the team's history--and boosting their American Collegiate Hockey Association Central Ranking to #8.
The top two teams in each of the four ACHA Division II regions qualify directly to the national championships to be held March 12-15, 2008, at the Germain Ice Arena in Estero, FL. The final two berths from each region are decided via a play-off among teams ranked third through tenth.
The Maroon last tasted defeat against an ACHA opponent on December 1, 2007, when they lost a road game to Southeast Region #14 University of Dayton (OH). Since then, they have reeled off thirteen straight with seven of those wins coming on the road.
Their last two wins came in a place notorious for the difficulty visitors have in earning victory: the Illinois Ice Arena.
"The rink in Champaign is the only one of its kind in the ACHA," says RMC Maroon Head Coach Bud Hickey. "It's extremely wide with a large neutral zone, so it's difficult for visitors to adjust to the configuration."
The Maroon managed to make the adjustment and win a pair of closely contested hockey games. On Friday night, they won the opener 5-4 as five different Eagles found the back of the net. Shaun McKenzie (Aurora, IL) earned three assists and junior goaltender Mike Brown(Oak Lawn, IL) got the win. Brian McMahon, Chris Yacoumakis, Miles Furlet, Jim Korienek, and Brandon Selke all scored for the Maroon.
On Saturday, an overtime period wasn't enough to decide the game after the Maroon--led by their penalty kill unit of Hapanovich, Shufelt, Holmquist, and Horstmann--stopped a two-man advantage power play by the Fighting Illini. That forced ten minutes of overtime and both the UI goalie and the MAroon's Adam Truch stopped everything thrown at them, prompting a shoot-out to break the 2-all tie. Mile Furlet scored on the very first try in the shoot-out and Truch came through for the Maroon, turning away all five Illini shooters. Brian McMahon and Chris Yacoumakis scored the goals in regulation as the Maroon grabbed the narrow 3-2 shoot-out victory.
"I'm very proud of what our young men have accomplished already this season," says Coach Hickey, in his first year at the helm of the Maroon. "We've got a good mix of experience and youth and they have really come together."
The Maroon close out their regular season on the road this weekend against a formidable opponent: #9 Lindenwood University (MO).