Illini
Sweep Mountaieers
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Kyle
Mulvey has hat trick game |
December
19th, 2002 - The Illini sent West Virginia
back to the mountains with two more losses to their record after
this weekends games. On Friday night the Illini came out to see if
they could recover from the last games loss, and recover they did.
Six minutes into the first period, the Illini's Kyle Mulvey,
assisted by Jim Rogers and Brian Coleman, put the puck past WVU's
Natonick for the first lamp lighting of the evening. With less than
two minutes left in the first, Luke Carlson was able to take
advantage of a WVU penalty aided by Todd Chrustowski. Not even sixty
seconds had ticked off the clock since the second goal, when Kyle
Zabrin scored making it a 3-0 Illini first period. Assists went to
Brad Eaton and Scott Kohler. The second period started out with a
pair of matching roughing penalties, but after both teams returned
to full strength, Illini Forward Andy Lubesnick put the 4th puck
past the WVU goaltender with help from Tom Ennessy and Kyle Zabrin.
Mike Roesch was the next of the Illini to score with both Luke
Carlson and Joel Superfine putting another assist tally on their
records. In the closing minutes of the second, WVU's Adam Blaine
finally put the mountaineers on the board and making it a 5-1 game.
At the start of the third period we found Illini Joe Pedota taking
over the net minding duties and West Virginia trying to make it more
of a game. Mountaineer Brian Cherwinski started off the third period
scoring, but the Illini responded quickly as Brian Coleman, teamed
up with Rogers and Pachol, put in the sixth Illini goal. It was
about three quarters of the way through the third period, when the
lamp behind the WVU net started looking more like a strobe light.
Within a span of less than four minutes, the Illini knocked in four
more goals, two of them coming from Kyle Mulvey, giving him a hat
trick for the game, and the others from Brett Duncan and Brian
Tilden. One of the Mulvey goals and the Duncan goals were power play
goals as well. The Illini pulled off their comeback game with a 10-2
win.
On Saturday night most people
expected the same type of blow out that was experienced Friday
night, but after the first period most were feeling a touch of deja
vu. With the Illini starting out a little slow, and WVU's Natonick
looking renewed, it wasn't until late in the period before Mike
Roesch, aided by Carlson and Superfine, was able to break the
scoreless tie and end the period with an Illini 1-0 lead. In the
second period Pat Olson helped the crowd breath a little easier
while on the power play scoring the second Illini goal of the game,
again assisted by Superfine and Carlson. Nearing the end of the
second the Illini turned up the heat a little more and Kyle Mulvey,
assisted by Chrustowski and Rogers, scored his forth goal of the
weekend. Kyle Zabrin added to the second period scoring backed up by
Krates and Lubesnick to end the period with the Illini up 4-0. It he
third period the Illini came out firing and never stopped, adding
seven more goals past two different WVU goalies. Illini captain
Brian Tilden scored the first goal of the third with less than sixty
seconds off the clock, Olson and Carlson were there to assist. Andy
Lubesnick found his way past the net minder aided by Zabrin and
Chrustowski. Not to be left out, Brett Duncan added to the scoring
and Superfine and Carlson again teamed up with Joel scoring the last
goal on WVU's Natonick. With an ovation from the crowd, Natonick
left the ice waving to the Illini crowd. The Illini didn't give
Mountaineer Tom O'Connor much time to settle in between the pipes
before Luke Carlson with David Vargas and Mike Roesch assisting, put
the ninth Illini score on the board. The Illini penalty killers have
been doing an outstanding job so far this year, and this game was no
exception, with a player in the box, Brett Duncan took the wind out
of the WVU power play unit and scored a shorthanded goal, the assist
going to Tilden. Brian Coleman topped off the Illini scoring with
Mulvey and Rogers helping, ending the game with the score Illini 11,
WVU 0. In this game Luke Carlson also found himself passing the 100
career assists mark, putting him in 3rd place on the all time assist
leaders list. Scott Hacker should also receive a mention for this
game posting a shutout on his first start as the Illini goaltender
this season.
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