The Butler Bulldogs skated through aversity on Friday night as eight
players came down with a flu virus and sidelined them for the game. The
Bulldogs who dressed only 7 skaters and two goalies sucked it up as Purdue
rolled into town. Earlier in the year Butler whipped the Boilermakers 11-2
with thier full squad but tongiht hings were different as the Bulldogs
found themselves down in more ways than one. The Bulldogs jumped out to
an early 3-0 midway through the first as the quicker Bulldogs outskated
Purdue all over the ice and the first period ended 3-0 in favor of Butler.
Purdue scored next on a powerplay early in the second to cut the margin
to two goals and it seemed like the momentum was starting to turn as the
Bulldogs tired but Butler got their act together for two quick goals at
about the halfway mark to extend their lead to 5-1. The Boilermakers
picked up their intensity towards the end of the period and Butler escaped
yielding only one more goal making the score 5-2 after two periods. The
third period saw a much tired out and exhausted Butler team try to hang on
to their lead as the two teams traded goals to push the score to 6-3.
Purdue then started to get physical in an effort to wear down the smaller
Bulldogs. Purdue scored the next goal to cut the lead back down to two,
before Butler put the game away with two goals back to back with about
six mintues to go in the game. Each team scored in the final minute to
make the final 9-5 in favor of the ailing Butler Bulldogs. The Bulldogs
showed great determination and willingness not to give up as they skated
hard all night and preserved the victory to close out Butler's premier
year of Ice Hockey with an impressive 7-3 mark (not including 7 forfeits
victories throughout the season)
 
Butler-3-2-4--9
Purdue-0-2-3--5
 
Butler's final season scores:
 
Xavier (L 5-8)
DePaul (L 5-9)
@ Illinois State (W 11-2)
Wheaton College (W 9-8)
@ Wheaton College (L 4-9)
@ Ball State (W 7-5)
@ Xavier (W 6-0)
@ Purdue (W 11-2)
Wittenberg (W 15-5)
Purdue (W 9-5)
**Butler's last game was supposed to be tonight at U of Kentucky but due
to the severe illness of the team it had to potponed indefinitely.