By Char Grimm | @KernelGrimm

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UK hockey (9-23-0) dropped both games to D-I Indiana University (14-17-0) in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday nights. Friday night’s loss was 7-3 at home and on Saturday the Cats went down 4-1 in Bloomington.

The Cats couldn’t seem to get anything going Friday night and went into the first intermission down 1-0 to a goal by IU junior David Emmanuel, despite multiple saves by junior goaltender Aaron Tenfelde.

“We’re just going through the motions Friday nights. It’s like we don’t want to be (on the ice),” Tenfelde said of the Cats’ recent trend of slow starts in Friday games.

In the second period, IU freshman forward Scott Wolf took advantage of a power play and pinged in a shot off the post and behind Tenfelde to give the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead.

Indiana wouldn’t let up, with senior forward Alex Santostefano giving the visitors a 3-0 lead soon after.

“We’re waiting to see what they want to play, and by that point it’s too late,” McFadden said.

IU freshman defenseman Luke Mussay was whistled for a penalty halfway through the second, putting the Cats on power play.

UK’s captain, senior forward Sean McLaughlin, became the first UK player to find a way behind sophomore goaltender Michael Reed when he scored with the man advantage.

The Hoosiers were quick to regain their three goal cushion and ultimately exited the second period ahead by a score of 5-1.

The Cats weren’t going to go away quietly. To start the third, McFadden found his way behind Reed to score the second goal of the game for the Cats.

IU made it 6-2 before capitalizing with one second left on a power play to take a commanding 7-2 lead halfway through the third.

Junior forward Ryan Thomas received a pass from senior forward Dylan Rohar to score the Cats’ and the game’s final goal of the night, to make it 7-3.

On Saturday, the Cats came out strong, dominating the initial play.

“It’s like we’re a completely different team on Saturdays,” McFadden said.

UK exited the first period up 1-0, courtesy of McFadden.

To start the second, IU had a breakaway on Tenfelde that seemed sure to even up the score but the goaltender somehow managed to get his pad on the ice and make the save.

Two quick goals late in the period for the Hoosiers saw the home side lead 2-1 heading into the final intermission.

“We act like we’ve never been scored on before. We take a period and a half to regroup. By then the game was over,” McFadden said.

Indiana’s junior forward Jack Mannion extended the lead in the third when Tenfelde couldn’t get his glove on the puck in time.

“Our offense seems to be doing fairly well, we need to step it up on defense,” Thomas said.

With two minutes remaining, the Cats pulled Tenfelde in favor of the extra attacker. IU would seal their 4-1 victory with an empty net goal.

“It seems like every time we take one step forward, we then take two steps back,” McFadden said.

The Cats are back in action at the Lexington Ice Center on Friday night for their final home game of the season when Louisville provide the opposition.

On Saturday night the two teams play again, this time on the rival Cardinal’s home ice in Louisville.