Scott Kohler with his first hat trick game.

October 12, 2003 - The Illini skate past the Michigan State hockey club with two wins this past weekend, 5-3 and 7-2. The week off didn't seem to agree with the Illini skaters on Friday night as Michigan State was the first team to get on the board with a power play goal half way into the first period. The Spartans then took advantage of the shaken Illini by scoring again a minute later, giving State a 2-0 lead. The second goal must have sparked the Illini back to life as Junior forward Brett Duncan rushed in thirteen seconds after the puck dropped and got the Illini back into the game with an even strength goal. In the second period senior Pat Olson, who assisted on the first Illini goal, scored a goal of his own with Alex Tauchen assisting, evening up the game a 2 goals apiece. Just minutes after the Olson goal, Junior Clay Estabrooke scored his first goal of the season with the help of Mike Kincaid and Nelson Forsberg, giving the Illini the lead. Halfway through the period frustrations showed as a slight altercation broke out in the Illini zone sending four players to the penalty boxes to serve their time and two more off the ice for the rest of the game and the next. As the period was winding down the Illini's Mike Roesch took the puck toward the net and getting Spartan goalie Nick Griffin out of place and Senior Kyle Zabrin took advantage of it by putting the puck in the Michigan State net, putting the Illini up 4-2 at the end of two. In the third period Michigan State showed that they weren't going to give up easily on the game as they battled it out and brought the club back to within one goal with shot past the Illini's Tim Danlow. Junior Brian Coleman dashed their hopes though as he put the cap on the Illini scoring with a quick power play goal assisted by Jim Rogers and Brett Duncan. It was found out after the game that a pre-game warmup shot that hit Danlow in the helmet, knocking part of it to the ice, actually caused a concussion that gave the netminder headaches during the game.
 On Saturday night the Illini came out quickly and set the tone of the game early as Brett Duncan took advantage of a power play opportunity and put the Illini on the board two and a half minutes into the game and Scott Kohler started off his scoring drive twenty five seconds after that. Brett Duncan would score again during the period giving the Illini the 3-0 lead after the first. The second period started out with a Spartan high sticking penalty at seventeen seconds, and an Illini popwer play goal from Pat Olson and Brian Coleman twenty nine seconds after that. With two Illini players in the sin bin serving time, Michigan State put the pressure on and finally got the puck past freshman goaltender Mike DeGeorge making it an 4-1 Illini game. Junior Scott Kohler fired up the Illini scoring machine again in the third with an unassisted goal just one minute into the period, giving him his second goal of the game. Captain Jim Rogers also added a power play goal in the period giving the Illini a five goal lead. The Spartans Erik Luebke turned the tide on a Illini power play halfway through the period by scoring a short handed goal past DeGeorge. Scott Kohler topped off the evenings scoring and got his first hat trick as he and Mike Roesch charged through the Spartan zone.
 The 4-0 Illini now head to Ames, Iowa for their first Central States Collegiate Hockey League of the season against the league leading Cyclones.