The Eastern hockey club scored one goal in its two-game series against Missouri State during the weekend in Springfield, Mo., losing 6-0 on Friday and 9-1 on Sunday.

After senior goalie Andrew Teske gave up no goals in the first period, stopping all 24 shots sent his way, leaving the Panthers and Ice Bears scoreless going into the second.

In the second period however, the Ice Bears found their groove on offense, scoring four goals. Senior forward Derek Bartsch, junior forward Jack Ryan, sophomore forward Brian Leslie and freshman forward Brendan McClew all recorded goals in the second period. Bartsch and Leslie’s goals came short-handed, while Ryan’s came on the power play.

The Ice Bears added two more goals in the final period with junior defenseman Nick Sadorf and junior forward Kyle Brown scoring. Missouri State outshot the Panthers 68-26. Sophomore goalie Justin Davis recorded his second shutout of the season for the Ice Bears.

In the second game, it was all Missouri State, with Ryan recording five points in the 9-1 win, including a hat trick.

Missouri State ended the first period with a 2-0 lead, with goals coming from senior forward Blake Ryan and senior defenseman Jacob Guthrie. The Ice Bears led 24-6 in shots after the first period.

In the second period, Missouri State added two more goals by way of junior defenseman Erik Aldag and Sadorf.

The third period was filled with more goals for the Ice Bears, with Missouri State adding five on Teske.

Eastern scored its only goal of the game in the third period by way of freshman forward Steve Kinnison.

Earlier in the week, senior forward Chris Gallagher said the team changed up the defense to cut down on the number of pucks coming toward the net.

“We tweaked some things in practice defensively to cut down their shots on goal and give us a greater advantage in our own zone,” he said. “The way to beat a team like this is to tighten up defensively and take away those passing lanes, and the shots that do get throw we are confident in Teske to make the stop.”

After the game against the University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana’s Division I team and the series against Arkansas, Gallagher said the team has learned quite a bit about itself.

“We learned that chemistry is a huge thing to have in a team,” he said. “When your changing lines every other shift and game with kids you haven’t played with before this year is hard. We learned a lot about ourselves going on these road trips and we are just going to finish up the season strong.”

Eastern will take on Illinois’ Division II team Tuesday in Danville at the David S. Palmer Arena.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].