December 12, 2006
Hawks Stumble Into Winter Break
Hawks Stumble Into Winter Break
The Iowa Hawkeyes headed to Springfield, Missouri last weekend to take on the
Missouri State Ice Bears and needed at least one win to keep any faint MACHA
Playoff hopes alive. The Hawks arrived on Friday night with a shortened roster as
quite a few players were absent because the games took place on the eve of finals
week at the University of Iowa. This shortened roster was not up to the task, as the
Hawks fell 4-1 on Friday and 9-2 on Saturday afternoon and were outshot by
Missouri State by nearly 50 shots over the two games.
On Friday, the Hawkeyes came out and were dominated for much of the first period.
Goaltender Derek Lawson was forced to make save after save as the Hawks spent
much of the period in their own zone. Despite facing nearly 30 shots in the first
period Lawson kept Missouri State at bay until the Hawks fell behind on a freak goal
with 8:23 remaining in the period. On the goal Lawson made a save that caused the
rebound to bounce straight up into the air. Sophomore defenseman Tyler Schultz
tried to bat the puck away from the net but missed and the puck came straight down,
landed, and proceeded to bounce into the net.
However, the Hawks would not be kept down for long despite being outshot by an
almost unheard of margin as Matt Winkler tied the score at one on a goal off of a
rebound less than 3 minutes later.
The Ice Bears came back and scored again despite the outstanding play of Lawson
as the period wound down to retake the lead. The Bears would not relinquish the
lead for the remainder of the game.
Iowa began the second period on a power play as Missouri State received a bench
minor penalty for Delay of Game but the Hawkeyes were unable to convert, a
problem that persisted throughout the remainder of the game and prevented the
Hawks from having a chance to win as they went 0-8 on the night and at one point
they went scoreless on nearly four minutes with the man advantage
The Ice Bears scored twice in the second period to take the game to the final score
of 4-1 although Jamie Elliott had a chance to bring the Hawks within 2 in the third
when Bears goaltender Kevin Rekowski came out to play the puck and Elliott stole it
from him, however, Elliott's shot deflected off of the goalie's stick and up into Missouri
State's Salman Shah who was standing in the crease and was hit in the chest by the
shot.
On Saturday things looked like they might go differently as Kyle Norris scored just
1:13 into the game to put the IceHawks up 1-0 when he took a pass from Austin Ladd
that caught Missouri State's goalie moving from right to left, and slid the puck past
the goaltender. The Hawks did not enjoy the lead for long as the Bears scored a
shorthanded goal to tie the game at one less than two minutes later.
That goal was the start of a barrage for Missouri State as Derek Lawson simply could
not hold the Ice Bears back singlehandedly as he had the night before. Missouri
State scored nine unanswered goals after Norris' goal to make it 9-1 in favor of the
Ice Bears and prove that things were going to go differently on Saturday, but that it
was going to be worse for Iowa, and not any better. Before it was all said and done
Austin Ladd added a goal for the Hawkeyes to get to the final score of 9-2. The
IceHawks were outshot in the game 47-22 and again went 0-8 on the powerplay.
The IceHawks have been plagued by inconsistency throughout the first half of the
season and it was especially evident during the games with conference foe Missouri
State. While the Hawkeyes were short on skaters, they were not terribly outmatched
and many of their mistakes were mental and consistent with being such a young
team. The Hawkeyes have 8 games remaining on their schedule for second semester
and return to action on January 12th against Big Ten opponent Northwestern. The
Hawks likely will need to play an unblemished second half in order to have a chance
at making the ACHA's regional playoffs, but they will first need to concentrate on
minimizing their mistakes and play one game at a time to take out Northwestern.
Missouri State Ice Bears and needed at least one win to keep any faint MACHA
Playoff hopes alive. The Hawks arrived on Friday night with a shortened roster as
quite a few players were absent because the games took place on the eve of finals
week at the University of Iowa. This shortened roster was not up to the task, as the
Hawks fell 4-1 on Friday and 9-2 on Saturday afternoon and were outshot by
Missouri State by nearly 50 shots over the two games.
On Friday, the Hawkeyes came out and were dominated for much of the first period.
Goaltender Derek Lawson was forced to make save after save as the Hawks spent
much of the period in their own zone. Despite facing nearly 30 shots in the first
period Lawson kept Missouri State at bay until the Hawks fell behind on a freak goal
with 8:23 remaining in the period. On the goal Lawson made a save that caused the
rebound to bounce straight up into the air. Sophomore defenseman Tyler Schultz
tried to bat the puck away from the net but missed and the puck came straight down,
landed, and proceeded to bounce into the net.
However, the Hawks would not be kept down for long despite being outshot by an
almost unheard of margin as Matt Winkler tied the score at one on a goal off of a
rebound less than 3 minutes later.
The Ice Bears came back and scored again despite the outstanding play of Lawson
as the period wound down to retake the lead. The Bears would not relinquish the
lead for the remainder of the game.
Iowa began the second period on a power play as Missouri State received a bench
minor penalty for Delay of Game but the Hawkeyes were unable to convert, a
problem that persisted throughout the remainder of the game and prevented the
Hawks from having a chance to win as they went 0-8 on the night and at one point
they went scoreless on nearly four minutes with the man advantage
The Ice Bears scored twice in the second period to take the game to the final score
of 4-1 although Jamie Elliott had a chance to bring the Hawks within 2 in the third
when Bears goaltender Kevin Rekowski came out to play the puck and Elliott stole it
from him, however, Elliott's shot deflected off of the goalie's stick and up into Missouri
State's Salman Shah who was standing in the crease and was hit in the chest by the
shot.
On Saturday things looked like they might go differently as Kyle Norris scored just
1:13 into the game to put the IceHawks up 1-0 when he took a pass from Austin Ladd
that caught Missouri State's goalie moving from right to left, and slid the puck past
the goaltender. The Hawks did not enjoy the lead for long as the Bears scored a
shorthanded goal to tie the game at one less than two minutes later.
That goal was the start of a barrage for Missouri State as Derek Lawson simply could
not hold the Ice Bears back singlehandedly as he had the night before. Missouri
State scored nine unanswered goals after Norris' goal to make it 9-1 in favor of the
Ice Bears and prove that things were going to go differently on Saturday, but that it
was going to be worse for Iowa, and not any better. Before it was all said and done
Austin Ladd added a goal for the Hawkeyes to get to the final score of 9-2. The
IceHawks were outshot in the game 47-22 and again went 0-8 on the powerplay.
The IceHawks have been plagued by inconsistency throughout the first half of the
season and it was especially evident during the games with conference foe Missouri
State. While the Hawkeyes were short on skaters, they were not terribly outmatched
and many of their mistakes were mental and consistent with being such a young
team. The Hawkeyes have 8 games remaining on their schedule for second semester
and return to action on January 12th against Big Ten opponent Northwestern. The
Hawks likely will need to play an unblemished second half in order to have a chance
at making the ACHA's regional playoffs, but they will first need to concentrate on
minimizing their mistakes and play one game at a time to take out Northwestern.
