Midwest Talent attends SIUE Mini-Camp

   The SIUE Cougar Hockey Club held its annual mini camp on Saturday and Sunday (3/21-22) with over 45 attendees, 8 of them goalies. Current SIUE players from both the Gold and Silver squads were interspersed in each roster, getting to play with possible incoming players for next year. Every game had great flow and solid goaltending, and was a great success. Thanks to all who came out! Tryouts will take place in late August, and game schedules for both teams have been posted. Both the Gold and Silver teams will open up with a game against MACHA newcomer Purdue University, September 25th and 26th at East Alton Ice Arena.
   Stay tuned for tryout times as they will be posted soon!!

Cougars Late Rally Not Enough Against Iowa

    After a big win against Kansas on Friday, the Cougars were 1 game away from another shot at the MACHA crown. Unfortunately, the top seeded Iowa Hawkeyes had other plans for the Cougars. Iowa's Nick Butera got the Hawkeyes on the board, scoring on a third rebound opportunity to Luke Venker's right. SIUE's Jared Ippolito would answer right back, picking the top shelf over Iowa netminder Will Dodge, to tie the game at 1. Butera would answer again, getting behind the defense on an odd man break and gave the Hawkeyes a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.
    SIUE came out flying in the 2nd frame, hemming Iowa in their own zone, but couldn't get anything past Dodge. Adam Rankin scored for Iowa on the power play, on a quick snap shot from inside the left circle. Alex Johnson would also tally on a 2 on 1, extending the Hawkeye lead to 4-1 after 40 mins of play.
    Even down 3, the Cougars stormed onto the ice and again dominated the 3rd period. 4 minutes into the final frame, Cory Beck opened up the scoring with a wrist shot, beating Dodge to his right, bringing the Cougars within 2. 6 minutes later, Mike Dolan would score short handed off of a great feed from Traig Henson to make it 4-3. In the remaining 10 minutes, SIUE had plenty of opportunities to tie up the tilt, clanging one shot of the iron, and a few others missing paydirt by an inch. Alex Johnson would seal the Cougars fate with an empty net goal with :46 left on the clock, giving the Hawkeye's a 5-3 win and a ticket to the Championship game.

Cougars Victorious in Quarterfinals

   The Cougars Gold Squad opened the Playoffs with a great start to their quarterfinal match up against Kansas, and never looked back. SIUE would take a 3-0 lead after the first stanza, scoring 2 of those 3 goals on the man advantage. Dan Guarino and Andy Stratton would net the first 2 goals with deflections past Adam Paulitsch, and Cory Beck would follow suit with a point blank chance with less than a minute remaining.
   The Jayhawks came out with renewed confidence in the 2nd, tallying twice on a two-man advantage with goals from from Kevin Kiske and Eric Bredesen less than a minute apart from each other. SIUE went empty handed in the middle frame, with the period ending 3-2.
    Opening the 3rd period, the Cougars roared back with 3 of their own, as Kendall Price netted a shorthanded goal off of a rebound from Captain Mike Dolan. Jake Niccum would score what would be the game winner with a blast from the point, beating Paulitsch just under his left pad. Mike Dolan and Aaron Dalton, finished the scoring for the Cougars, as they move on to the Semi-Finals against Iowa with a 7-4 win. Luke Venker came up big when called upon, stopping 22 out of 26.

Season Finale in Chi-Town

   The SIUE Gold team took game 1 against the pesky Northern Illinois Huskies by a 4-2 count. After being down 2-0 after 1, the Cougars needed to bounce back in the second frame, and they did just that with their special teams. Both the Shorthanded Snipeshow Tim Dolan and Kendall Price tallied on the penalty kill, giving SIUE a 3-2 lead after 2. Ryan McTigue found paydirt on the Power Play, getting the Cougars even at 2. Jared Ippolito would not let his homecoming go to waste, as he sniped a breakaway goal in the third to extend the lead to 4-2. Luke Venker held the fort making 35 saves in the win.
   Even with a Stronger effort on Saturday, the Cougars could not complete the sweep. On Senior Day at the Leafs Ice Center, NIU goaltender Tim Benham stymied the dominant SIUE offense, stopping 55 of 57 shots in his last game as a Huskie as NIU won the tilt, in OT, by the score of 3-2. The Cougars will play the Kansas Jayhawks in the First Round of the MACHA Gold Division Tournament at 1pm in Fairview Heights, IL. The Cougars Silver will enter the playoffs for the second straight season, as they take on the Missouri State Ice Bears - Silver squad at 3pm also in Fairview Heights, IL at the US Ice Sports Complex.
   The Gold squad finish the regular season 9-9-1-1 clip, 9-8-1 in MACHA play.

Cougars Score Late to Down RMC-S

   Cory Beck lead the offensive attack against RMC-Springfield, to earn the Cougars 8th win with a 9-5 victory on Friday night in Springfield. With the game knotted at 4 in the 3rd period, Coach Scott Cloin called a time-out, said a few encouraging words, and requested the Cougars light up the scoreboard. For the remaining 6 minutes, the Cougars assaulted RMC with 5 goals, 2 each from Beck and Aaron Dalton, and Freshman Jared Ippolito answered Cloin's call with one of his own. Andy Stratton, Kendall Price, Ryan McTigue and Beck scored earlier in the tilt. Brandon Becker earned his 2nd win in a row, stopping 29 of 30 Eagles shots in the 2nd period, 44 of 49 in all.
    The Cougars Gold squad will travel to the Leafs Ice Center to play the Northern Illinois University Huskies, currently 5-11 in MACHA play, yet have always given the Cougars a tough game, series after series. The Huskies have managed to steal a win from SLU, who swept SIUE earlier in the year, and from #14 ISU, who would be the Cougars MACHA Quarterfinal matchup in the MACHA Gold Conference Playoffs should the Cougars sweep this weekend.

Sponsors Needed

If you would like to sponsor the 4-Time MACHA Champion SIUE Cougar Hockey Club, please contact Larry Thatcher at icehky5@charter.net