On the brink of improving to .500 on the season, the NIU hockey team earned a split versus Eastern Illinois with a 6-2 win and 5-4 overtime loss.

The split sends the Huskies’ record to 6-7-0-1.

In game one, the Huskies pulled away quickly with 4-0 lead in the first period. The Panthers tried to put together a rally, but it was snuffed out by the Huskies’ defense.

When the final horn sounded NIU was on top 6-2. The second game was a different story for both teams. The NIU offense was still in high gear but needed a late rally to put the game in reach.

EIU went up 3-1 after the first period with the only NIU goal coming off of a Peter Alfano power-play goal. Mike Strumberger put the game a goal closer with a goal in the second period and the Huskies took a 4-3 lead in the third period. With just minutes left in the third, the Panthers tied the game and sent it to overtime when they posted the game-winning goal on Tim Benham.

Alfano posted five points in the series and Chris Bednarek added four. Nick Messing added a goal and transfer Mike Mannina posted his first NIU goal.

NIU will host No. 5 Missouri State University at West Dundee this coming weekend. Friday night will be NIU Greek Night with a fan bus available for fans wanting to go. For more fan bus information, e-mail the team at niuhockey@hotmail.com.

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