The Tigers took to the ice against the Northern Illinois Huskies in a second of two games at the Washington Ice Arena. The Tigers were embarrassed only one day earlier by the same Huskies 9-1, and were looking to get even.
Problem was: the Tigers could not keep 5 bodies on the ice long enough to do so, and they fell to Northern Illinois 4-2 Saturday.
The Tigers were forced to play penalty kill for a majority of the contest, with a whopping 10 penalties compared to 6 for the Huskies. Plus, Mizzou was playing catch up for most of the contest after an early goal by NIU Eric Svejda three and a half minutes in. Things never got going from there.
After a goal by Troy Heurlin with only one minute remaining in the first, the Huskies went to the locker room with a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. The Tigers came back quickly, scoring a quick goal 26 seconds into the second period. The game became even from there, but the penalties started to accumulate for both teams in this period. Both teams sent players to the box consistently throughout this period, and the scoring ended.
The third period was chippy and featured many quarrels in breaks in play. Eric Svejda netted his second of the game early in the period, and Mike Roza made it a one-goal game once again with 4:40 left. The Tigers were unable to find an equalizer, and were given less of a chance with a penalty with a little over 2 minutes remaining. Mizzou went with six attackers at the end of the penalty, but could not keep a late goal by Nick Leon to close the game out, causing the Tigers to lose the second of the double-header.
The Tigers next contest is against Saint Louis University in Webster Groves, Missouri at 7:45 p.m Friday.