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ILLINOIS WINS! ILLINOIS WINS!ILLINOIS WINS!ILLINOIS WINS!ILLINOIS WINS!  WOW…what a season…38-0 with the final score of 4-2.

Illinois captain Drew Heredia was the MVP, and deservedly so.

Until next year, Illinois is on top of the ACHA world!
Two periods down and the Illini still have a one-goal lead. This time it is 3-2 with the Illini getting a short-hander of their own from Drew Heredia before Lindenwood brought back to within one with under a minute left in the second. This should be a great one! 20 minutes left!!

One period is over and the Illini have a 2-1 lead. Lindenwood got on the board first with a short-hander from Larry Kopecky, but on that same power play, the Illini answered back with Drew Heredia putting one in the net. They got another one soon after from the stick of Daniel Cohen.

It’s been a physical one so far, and let’s hope it stays that way. GO ILLINI!
It’s about 6:10pm eastern time and the Illini are skating on the ESL Sports Centre ice and the puck will drop in about 20 minutes here. The Illini will be trying to take home their second national title in the last four seasons! Standing in their way is CSCHL foe Lindenwood. The orange and blue have beaten the Lions four times this year and three times it was decided by just one goal. So tune into livesportsvideo.com for all of the action, and keep checking the DI sports blog for more updates.

THE ORANGE AND BLUE ARE IN THE ACHA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!

The Illini grabbed a short-handed breakaway goal about 5 minutes into the third, but Liberty clawed back within one to make it 3-2. But Jason Nemeth made an empty net goal to put the Flames away and put the final score at 4-2!

Illinois looks to win their second national title in 4 years with a victory tomorrow at 6:30 Central here from Rochester.

The Illini came out with a 2-0 in the second period and didn’t do much with it…with the Flames doing a great job on the penalty kill, even scoring a shorthanded goal on a rebound to put the score at 2-1. The star of the game right now, however, has to be Liberty goalie Mike Binnie, he is keeping this Flame team in the game and has been the difference so far, along with the physicality of the Flames.

We have one period of semifinal hockey left here in Rochester and let’s see if the Illini can hang on…
It’s semifinal time and the Illini are leading after 2-0 after one period with a goal on the power play on a deflection by Jordan Pringle on an Alex Park wrister.

The next one was a Nick Fabbrini rebound. This game is really physical…with quite a few hits from the neutral zone. We’ll see if the Illini can hold on…

ILLINOIS WINS! ILLINOIS WINS! ILLINOIS WINS!

The final score being 6-2. The Illini showed their dominance tonight and have definitely established themselves as the team to beat in this tournament. Now it’s time for a day and the Illini will take on Liberty on Tuesday night.

It gives you Illini fans a chance to make the trek out to Rochester and support this squad. This is a special team and a special season…36-0…the magic number is now at 2.

End of the second period, Illinois 5, Rhode Island 2.

The Illini defensemen are doing a much better job of not turning the puck over in their own zone and the offense has responded with long offensive rushes and, the big one, 4 second period goals.

The long offensive rushes from the orange and blue are keeping the Rhode Island Ram defensemen on the ice for longer shifts and tiring them out. It also looks like the Illini have found the weak spot of Ram goalie Andrew Lisi–scoring three goals from behind the net with wraparounds after faking the centering pass. Joey Resch provided the first spark using that strategy, followed by Jason Nemeth putting one past Lisi with an impossible angle. The highlight of the period had to be from Brad Hoelzer, picking up final goal of the period with point two seconds left with a great scrap by Johnny Liang with the assist.

Let’s see if the Illini can hold on here in the final period
End of the first period, Illinois 1, Rhode Island 1.

The Illini playing well, allowing a goal on a great breakout by one of the Rhode Island forwards. Fabbrini had the early goal for Illinois. Credit Johnny Liang with the assist.

Sorry about all the tech difficulties, but we should be good for the rest of the game.

GO ILLINI!