Illini end season with a sweep
The Illini down Illinois State (D2) with Home and Away wins
Sunday, February 26, 2023 / 10:37am
Credit: Illini Hockey


Illini vs Lakers

The Illini took on Illinois State's division two team in a home and away series to end the 2022-23 season. The Illini had a big win on Friday night in Bloomington and came back to Champaign for a win in the closing seconds of the third period on the Big Pond.

On Friday night the Illini traveled to the Bloomington Ice Center to square off against the Redbirds of ISU. The Illini took control early scoring five goals in the first period. The first goal of the period was netted by Jack Kolb just 54 seconds after the opening face-off. Illini Joe Dorian found the back of the Redbird net just three minutes later at 3:41. Just under three minutes later the Illini's Patrick McDonough scored the third goal for the Orange and Blue. Two-thirds of the way into the first period three goals were scored in a span of 65 seconds. The Illini's Jacob Mydlinski scored at 13:27, ISU's Billy Carroll at 13:53, and Illini Will Sammons at 14:32. The Illini extended their lead, adding 3 more goals in the second period, Alexander Matveev at 10:49, Alexander Huntley at 12:05, and Francesco Addante at 14:25. The Illini were kept from scoring for the remainder of the game, but the damage had already been done. The Redbirds added a goal early in the third period, but that would do it for ISU. Final Score: Illini 8 - Redbirds 2.

Saturday night's game started out much like Friday night's game with the first goal being scored just 44 second after the puck was dropped. This time, however, it was ISU's Colin Young that found the back of the net first. Young would add another goal with the Redbirds on a power-play with just 19 seconds left in the period. The Illini found themselves down by three goals early in the second period as ISU's Michael Rabkin found the back of the Illini net. The Illini decided it was time to switch goaltenders in hopes of stopping the Redbirds scoring. Seven and a half minutes into the second period Shawn Viane put the Illini on the board making it a 3-1 ISU lead. The Illini took control of the game in the third period as Gregory Entingen lit the lamp just under two minutes into the final period. The Illini's Alexander Matveev tied the score at 3-3 with a shot past the Redbird netminder at the 13:06 mark. It appeared that the game was going to be decided in overtime, but Will Sammons sent the puck into the back of the ISU net with just .7 seconds left to go in the game. The Illini end their season with a record of 6-15-0-1. Final score: Illini 4 - Redbirds 3