As if a 38-0 season, conference title, and ACHA national title weren’t enough, the Illini hockey team will be sending two players to the first annual ACHA All-Star Game, and the honor is well-deserved for both players.

 The first is junior Jason Nemeth.  The forward from Roanoke, Texas led the national champs in scoring this year with 66 points but also did more than finding the net, leading the orange in blue in penalty minutes as well with sixty.  This was a breakout year for Nemeth.  When I talked to Coach Chad Cassel about his play this year, he said that Nemeth has really emerged as more of a scorer this year rather than someone who just sets other guys up like he had in his previous two seasons.

The next player going to State College, PA is sophomore defenseman Brad Hoelzer.  Hoelzer also had a special year, leading all defensemen in scoring with 26 points.  His play late in the season in the defensive zone, however, was what brought this nod.  He played his best hockey at the right time–the postseason–becoming a starter along to go with some other accolades.  Hoelzer was named CSHCHL tournament MVP and also was an ACHA all-tournament first team selection. 

 These two Illini will be joined by 38 other players from all over the country in the event hosted by Penn State on Saturday, March 29.  For more info on the game visit the illini hockey website.

Listen and watch all the action at www.livesportsvideo.com

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!

Rochester, NY-The top-ranked and undefeated Illinois hockey team put a scare into some of its fans early in its first round national tournament match up with Robert Morris University in Rochester, NY, allowing a Colonial power play goal halfway in the fist to tie the game at one. The orange and blue came out sluggish in the first period, with much of the action happening in the Illini zone.

But Daniel Cohen came to the rescue to put the Illini out front 2-1 at the end of the first with a masterful deke followed by a backhanded wrister past Bobby Mo goalie John Hoffman. From there, the Illini added a tally each in the second and third periods to get three out of four of their goals on the power play, which goes to show that the old adage is true—special teams are more important when it comes to playoff hockey. Chad Cassel’s bunch took the final 4-1, with junior defenseman Brad Hoelzer getting two goals on wrist shots from the blue line. Mike Burda also played an unbelievable game, bailing out his defenseman multiple times.

So the Illini survived and advanced, avoiding an early exit from the national tournament and reducing their magic number to three. If you want to see the Illini in action, you can visit www.achahockey.org to catch a webcast of the orange and blue in Rochester, with WPGU’s own Jon Hansen, Blake Stubbs, and myself calling the action. If you want to reach us during the broadcast or want to send out a message to a loved one, you can email us at achanationals@gmail.com. The webcast is only a five dollar fee to watch all of the games this weekend with very crisp audio and video feeds. Keep it locked here at the DI sports blog for more updates throughout the national tournament

Hey there Illini hockey fans!

Our team has had quite the season — perfect so far! Join the WPGU crew out in Rochester, N.Y., as the Illini try and finish their perfect season with a national championship.

Due to ACHA restrictions, WPGU cannot broadcast the games on the air. But play-by-play announcer Jon Hansen, color commentator Alex Symonds, and statistician-extrodinare Blake Stubbs will be bringing you all the action online. The ACHA is providing a video Webcast, so you can not only listen to us call the game, but watch it online as well.

Jon, Alex and Blake will also be providing updates on WPGU 107.1 throughout the tournament, as well as real time updates on dailyillini.com, and the217.com.

Here is the link for the webcast. There is a quick and easy registration: LiveSportsVideo.com

Stay tuned to the DI sports blog for updates on the games all weekend…

First game is tonight at 7:30pm CST vs. Robert Morris (PA).

Go Illini!!!