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Ann Arbor, Michigan- The Illinois Fighting Illini defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles by the score of 5-1 to split with the Eagles in two key four point CSCHL Conference Games at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. The Eagles defeated the Fighting Illini on Friday Night by the score of 5-2 despite being outshot severely 69-32..The Eagles were not so lucky tonight.

The story of the game happened in the first period. The Illini came out firing on all cylinders and used their speed advantage to take control. Illinois started the scoring just 4 minutes into the game on a goal by Mike Roesch, with an assist to Drew Hereida. The Illini continued to press the Eagles into their own zone and were rewarded with another goal just 3 minutes later on a goal by Brad Bennett. Illinois quickly added two more goals to the mix. However, the Eagles did show some life at the end of the period with 2 minutes left on a power play goal by Dan Olrgen with assists to
Mike Opyd and Jeff Jepson to close out the first period scoring at 4-1.

The second and the third period followed a very simple pattern. The second period picked up the defensive intensity on both sides. The game also became rather hard hitting quickly and both teams really seemed to pressure each other. Gradually the game seemed to slow down however, as the Eagles began to start to gather more shots on goal. The disappointing aspect of this game though is that the Fighting Illini showed very little discipline in the second and third periods of the game. The Eagles had Power Play after power play and were unable to get any good shots on goal and the Illini were able to prevent the Eagles from doing anything productive. The Eagles downfall however, was due to the Illini's speed advantage and just the Illini playing really well defensively and preventing the Eagles from doing much of anything tonight. The fifth goal of the game was scored with 29 seconds left on a really easy cross ice pass and shot as well.

We can look at Eastern's performance in this game in several different aspects. The Eagles did not play with the same fire and intensity that they do when you know they are on. The way in which the average fan can tell whether or not the Eagles are on is simply by just the intensity of their skating and the speed of their skating. My father's description is pretty accurate, and that was that the game began pretty high paced and then the game just felt like it was being played in slow-motion. It felt like the Illini could do whatever and the Eagles did what they could and just became frustrated by what was happening and just went through the motions. In fairness, these were the two games coming back off of the lengthy winter break and it does take time to get back into the rhythm that is necessary for success. So in a way it is not surprising that this was not even close to one of the Eagles sharpest games.

Let us also look at this aspect as well. As is common adage in most sports, "Speed kills." When you are playing against an opponent that is quicker than you, your tendency is to play much more cautious as if you let the individual get by you, you'll have a hard time catching them. The other thing about speed is that you'll be constantly chasing these guys all over the ice and will get warn out by it. Let's consider too that the Fighting Illini play at home on a larger ice rink in which there is a lot more room to skate for their speedsters. If you put the Illini on the normal ice surface the distances that they have to skate is reduced and they gain an advantage. When the Illini play at home, they gain an additional advantage because of the larger ice. Simply put, I feel that a large part of the Eagles loss today was due to fatigue. The Eagles for the entire first period were chasing the Illini and were getting warn out by that. Considering too that this game was the afternoon after the Eagles had a game with the same Illini in which they gave up 69 shots, it again is probably not too surprising. When you are fatigued, you won't be as sharp. The Illini looked unrelenting and looked like they had their legs underneath them and just played really well.

However, we cannot fairly assess this game without understanding an extremely key point. The Eagles were given a large number of opportunities due to Illinois playing very undisciplined and gave the Eagles several power play opportunities. This also helped the Eagles keep the game at a slower pace as they were able to stay in the Illini zone a quite a bit more in the second and third. However, the Eagles were unable to muster any solid shots. The biggest frustration to most Eastern fans was that the Eagles were getting too cute and were holding onto the puck too long and not shooting the puck onto the net, trying to make things happen. The constant shouting of "Shoot", "Shoot" followed by frustration is impossible to ignore. Let us consider though that the Illini had the shooting lanes covered very well and a large number of these shots would of been blocked well in front of the net and could of led to easy opportunities for the Illini to attack again due to their speed. The Illini were well packed in front of the net and really pressured Eastern the entire time and the Eagles just couldn't match up to it.

Let's be honest, the Fighting Illini are the better team of the two in my opinion. The Eagles are a very talented team and will have a great season from this point on, I firmly believe that. However, from my observations the Illini are the perfect system against the Eagles. The Eagles are a great team when they get the opportunity to fly, play aggressive and attack. When you play a team with the speed of the Illini and their intensity, they force the Eagles to play more conservatively and get off their game easier. However, let's also be honest, the Eagles didn't play their best game of the season, far from it. However, let's just be careful not to detract the effort from the Illini, they definitely didn't play their cleanest game, again far from it, but they played really well defensively and just as a team. A split against this caliber team is very good, so let's be satisified in that.

Looking Ahead:
The Eagles head back out onto the road again for another couple of weeks. The Eagles travel to Saint Louis next week for two winnable games against the Billikens at the Summit Center in Chesterfield, MO. This is then followed up by two extremely tough games at the Bird Ice Arena in Athens, Ohio to take on the defending national champions in Ohio. The Eagles then follow up with a home-and-home with Western Michigan, with the Eagles next home game being against the Stallions on January 29th, at 7:30 PM.

Good Luck Eagles and Go Green!

-Kevin

C
The offense was ineffective the entire game. The shot total was very inaccurate as a large number of the opportunities were not great. The passing was extremely uncrisp and the offense was stagnant the whole game. Again using the above logic, one could take a couple of good guesses to why. However, it just wasn't a great game offensively for us.

C
Once the second period began, the defense became a quite a bit better for the Eagles. However, early on the Illini just skated by the Eagles, they outskated us, they just outplayed us. If we would of had a better start, this grade and this game would of been a bit different(at least closer.

D
One power play goal in several opportunities, giving up a power play goal. The Eagles had numerous chances tonight, and took advantage of honestly, none of them except early on.

B
Pruss made some very nice saves to help keep the Eagles into the game and did all he could.

C
The Eagles looked tired tonight and did not play a very sharp game. At this point, I am going to credit that to the winter break and just getting back into the game. Coming off of a game in which they gave up 69 shots and won as well, it's really not too shocking that the performance wasn't wonderful. I expect much better in the future.

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