Indiana hockey began the 2024-25 campaign with eight consecutive losses. While the logo on the jersey remains the same, those who sport the red sweater do not. Senior Ithan DeLorenzo pointed to a host of challenges: a new coaching staff, a grueling schedule and the integration of 13 freshmen onto the roster.
Seemingly, as DeLorenzo put it, “we’re finally clicking. We’re getting used to playing with each other... and it’s working.”
After two wins against Bowling Green this weekend — a 12-1 drubbing and a 5-2 win — the Hoosiers stand as winners of five of their past six contests in the month of November. They’ve found the net 29 times while only allowing 14 into the back of their cage.
On Friday, Nov. 15, Indiana took to the ice for a near-midnight meeting with the Bowling Green Falcons. DeLorenzo and the usual point producers led the show and never looked back.
It was a beautiful tic-tac-toe tap-in for Ithan DeLorenzo to get things started at Frank Southern Ice Arena. The Hoosiers carried their captain’s opening goal momentum throughout the remaining few minutes of the initial frame. Just 65 seconds later, Jake Rock took the puck coast-to-coast, slicing defenders around the trapezoid and burying a nifty wrap-around for a 2-0 advantage. Davis Jegers notched his second of three points on the night with his blocker-side wrister to head into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
In his first year behind the bench, Mark Dych couldn’t have been more satisfied with this 20 minutes than any others his group has played thus far. The domination in the offensive zone and on the shot count rolled into the second period.
Paul McClure added to the tally, succeeded by DeLorenzo and Jegers in the same 60-second span.
Standing on a comfortable 6-0 lead, the Hoosiers were gifted a power play opportunity. The top man-advantage group hopped the boards and made its way onto the ice. In the blink of an eye, it was DeLorenzo skating towards the bench tapping the top of his helmet with his right glove before fist bumping his teammates. Indiana’s leader nicked the corner for his third goal of the evening.
“Our main goal in the locker room was to simply get more shots on net, and that’s what we did tonight,” DeLorenzo said postgame.
His hat trick wasn’t enough on the stat sheet. As the clock struck 1 a.m., DeLorenzo made the scorekeeper tack on another to his name, good for his team-leading 15th of the season, fourth of the night, and Indiana’s 10th goal.
The final buzzer sounded with a 12-1 defeat of Bowling Green. Sophomore goaltender Jack Stiles had a near-shutout performance and mentioned, “they made it easy on me today.”
The Hoosiers led the shot department with over 50 to the Falcons’ mere 18.
“It looked great in front of me,” Stiles said. “We’ve had some trouble scoring so far this year and this proves we can do it.”
Indiana swept the weekend series over Bowling Green with a 5-3 victory the following afternoon.
“We’re getting some good luck now. I think we’re getting our confidence back,” Stiles said.
The Hoosiers take a trip to Romeoville, Illinois for an action packed, three-game weekend slate this weekend against Minnesota, Wisconsin and a team yet to be determined. They return home to Bloomington on Dec. 12 to face Louisville.
