It was a night of missed opportunities for the NIU hockey team.

Mike Strumberger and Chris Bednarek each scored their team-leading 16th goal of the season this weekend, but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies dropped two games to the DePaul Blue Demons.

Strumberger was one of two Huskies to score Friday night, but the Blue Demons were too much for the Huskies, winning 8-2. Joe Najewski added the other NIU goal.

Team President Ian Kalanges was disappointed in the team’s inability to take advantage of power plays.

“We had a lot of power plays and did nothing with it,” Kalanges said. “But [the Blue Demons] are such a good team. They’re just so fast and organized.”

It was more of the same Saturday. The Huskies’ inability to take advantage of power plays accompanied by the impressive play of DePaul led to a 7-2 loss.

Kalanges and Bednarek each scored for NIU. Bednarek’s goal created a three-way tie for the team lead in goals with Strumberger and Peter Alfano.

The Huskies are now 10-15-2 on the year and will travel to Missouri this weekend to take on the University of Missouri Tigers in a MACHA showdown.

Other Club news:

* The NIU Equestrian team will hold an informational meeting Thursday at 9 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center . The club currently holds a 25-point lead in their region with three competitions left in the regular season. The club’s success has President Michael Lenard believing the team can qualify for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships.

* The NIU Women’s Rugby squad will hold tryouts Tuesday, Jan. 27, Thursday, Jan. 29 and Tuesday, Feb. 3 in the Chick Evans Field House. All tryouts will start at 5 p.m.

* The NIU Men’s Rugby squad will begin practice Jan. 20 as they prepare for their March 14 appearance in the South Side Irish Whiskey 10’s Tournament .

* The NIU Paintball Club will travel to Ohio for a tournament hosted by the University of Michigan on Jan. 24 . President Dave Moore hopes the club will be among the four best teams after the eight-game tournament to play in the round-robin championship.