D3 to Host #14 Missouri State D3 at EAIA

Must Sweep Weekend for the Cougars to Keep Playoff Chances Alive

SIUe D3 will host Missouri State D3 this weekend at East Alton, and will have to play their best hockey to keep hope alive for making the MACHA Silver Playoffs. During Winter Break, the then last place Cougars caught a massive break when WIU amd RMU-Springfield both decided to fold up for the season. WIU shut down the club team due to conduct detrimental to the University, and RMU-Springfield lacks the manpower to continue their season. With those 2 teams out of the picture, D3 sits in 7th, 1 point behind Purdue, 5 points behind ISU. McKendree would have to lose out, ISU to go 2-2 in their last 4 games, and SIUe would have to sweep out the rest of the 6 Conference Games to make playoffs.

D3 will have to take on the 2nd semester without Max Suits and Jay Albers, yet regaining Andy Stubblefield between the pipes. Missouri State has rebounded after a helacious start to their 2011-12 campaign, winning 7 of their last 8 in an attempt to get back to ACHA Regional Play. Keep updated by following the Cougars on Twitter at #SIUE_Hockey.

SIUe to visit RMU-Black this weekend

D3 Looks to Rebound from Last Weekend's Sweep by EIU

The Cougar D3 team will head to The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, IL to take on D3 opponent RMU-Black this weekend. The D3 team seems to have righted the ship, having a great weekend of practice and will get back 2 vital pieces to their top line, Garrett Charton and James Hautula. Charton returns from his short stint with D2, notching a goal in 2 games against Minnesota. Hautula returns after missing last weekend recovering from a hit from behind resulting in an upper body injury against Wheaton College in Game 1. Both will also aid a recently anemic power play, currently operating at a 1 for 33 clip (3%).

This is the first road trip for the young Cougar squad, and 2 wins can keep the morale back to where it was to begin the year. RMU-Black sits at 0-3-0-1 having given up 34 goals in 4 games, and the lone point coming in the season opener against Northwestern losing in OT 3-2.

These 2 teams locked up last year at East Alton, with SIUe winning Game 1 13-1, only to drop Game 2 7-4. Stay updated with the D3 weekend by following SIUE Hockey on Twitter at twitter.com/#SIUE_Hockey.

Cougars D3 Drop 2 to Eastern Illinois

D3 only deposits 2 goals on the Weekend

October 2, 2011 - The D3 Cougars couldn't match the intensity of the D2 Eastern Illinois Panthers, and it showed on the scoreboard, losing 3-1 and 5-1 over on the weekend. Kevin Greer notched the Cougars lone goal in Game 1, and Jeffrey Gaskill in Game 2, both of which were too little too late, as the Cougars found themselves down 2 prior to the Greer goal, and 3 before the Gaskill goal. Freshman Jake Davis was exceptional in his first collegiate game stopping 28 of 31. He also stopped 26 of 29 in game 2 through 2 periods, but left due to contact irritation. The downfall of the Cougars came on the special teams, as they were an 0 for 21 on the weekend. Undisciplined penalties prevented any kind of Cougar comeback, as both Nick Ringwald and Justin Schulz were assesed DQ's in Game 2, and also killed many Cougar power plays.

D3 will travel to Bensenville, IL to take on the RMU-Black (D3) team Friday and Saturday.

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Cougars DIII Sweeps Wheaton in Season Opener

Freshmen Lead Attack against Thunder, combine for 7 of 16 Goals

September 26th, 2011 - SIUE D3 started their season off with 2 strong efforts against the Wheaton Thunder, resulting in 8-0 and 8-5 victories.

Gaskill nets Hat Trick in 1st College Game; Borre gets Shutout

The excitement that carried over from the Wednesday D3 practice was most certainly on display at the East Alton Ice Arena on Friday night. 11 new players dawned the red and black and took it to Wheaton College in an 8-0 victory. Justin Schulz (Rockford, IL) netted the first goal of the year from the blue line, a wrist shot that beat goaltender Erik Demitrac glove side 9 minutes into the first period. The Cougars could only muster 1 goal in the first 20 minutes, however the remaining 40 would give the 125 plus fans in attendance a show on opening night. Jeffrey Gaskill (Edwardsville, IL) would tally his first hat trick, supplimented with goals by Kevin Greer, Nick Ringwald, and Defensemen Brent Lyons and Aaron Tucker. David Borre was solid between the pipes, notching his first shutout of the season with a 26 save effort, and was key in shutting down 7 Wheaton power plays.

Cougars Cape-d Crusader scores 2 Highlight Reel goals in 8-5 Win

The difference between last year's D3 squad and the current squad was evident on Saturday, as SIUe had to overcome multiple Wheaton leads to take Game 2 8-5. Wheaton's David Truman scored 4 goals in a losing effort, leading off the game with 2 goals 4 minutes apart. Nathan Cape (Peoria, IL) cut the lead in half, slicing through the Thunder defense, and beating Demitrac 5-hole. Wheaton would regain a 2 goal lead with 4:55 left, beating Borre to his right from just inside the slot. The Cougars would strike late, as Max Suits would bury a one timer on the power play to take the Cougars to the locker room down a goal.

The Cougars would own the middle frame outscoring Wheaton 5-1. Anthony Swann would score on a wrap-around, beating the Thunder netmider low to his right to knot the game at 3. Truman would seal his first hat trick of the season on the power play, to regain a 4-3 advantage. Cape would emerge again, only this time, he would create time and space in front of the net for Max Suits, finding the Elmhurst, IL native all alone ito bury his 2nd of the game. This would begin a 4 goal run for the Cougars, which included goals by Greer, Jay Albers, and Cape's 2nd, which wowed those in attendance again, throwing a bevy of toe-drags to evade Wheaton Defenders, and finally went to his backhand to deposit the puck in the net for a 7-4 lead.

Wheaton's David Truman scored his 4th to cut the Cougar lead to 7-5 less than 3 minutes into the final frame. Freshman Garrett Charton (Carmel, IN) would finish the scoring for the Cougars, tapping in John Davis's rebound for an 8-5 advantage. Borre won his 2nd game of the year, stopping 15 of 21.

SIUE Students can attend all D2 and D3 games this season for free with proof of an SIUE ID.