Illini Hockey

Illini stumble in the finals against Ohio

Illini face off against Ohio in Championship Game

February 22, 2004 - The Illini went into the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament in second place, hoping to upset the number number one Ohio University, but unfortunately came out the same way. With two less CSCHL teams around for league playoffs this year, this left only seven teams to compete for the cup, and with Ohio University taking the number one spot for the regular season points race, they drew the first round bye. The other six teams faced off on Friday, starting with #3 Michigan-Dearborn and #6 Kent State. While the game started out slow, Michigan gathered things up and downed the Golden Flashes 4-1. The second game put #2 Illinois against #7 Western Michigan. The Illini took control of the game early, scoring three goals in the first period, and two more in the second before finally allowing Western to get on the board. The Illini scored four more goals, one more in the second and three in the third, before Western would take advantage of a power play and gets its second goal. Western would score one last goal at the end of the game but it was by far too little too late and gave the Illini the 9-3 win. The third game turned out to be the first upset of the weekend as #5 St. Louis battled back to tie #4 Iowa State at the end of regulation play and put the winning goal in the net in overtime.
Saturday started out with the fifth place game as Iowa State took on Kent State and easily handed them the 5-1 loss. Ohio University finally hit the ice for the first Semi-Final round game against St. Louis. With the Billikens noticeably not hitting on all cylinders, the Bobcats walked away with the game and won the matchup 10-2. The Illini met up with the Wolves of UMD in the last matchup of the day and the second Semi-Final game. The Illini came out strong early and scored the first and only goal of the first period, but the Wolves proved tough when it came to allowing the puck to get into the net. In the second period the Illini came out strong early and put up another point in the opening seconds, but that too turned out to be the only goal for the period. In the third the Illini seemingly put the game out reach with the third goal halfway through the period, but Dearborn put on the extra attacker and brought the game back within two with their first goal. Still with the extra man on the ice for the wolves, the Illini were able to shut down the offense and take advantage of the empty net with two late period goals giving them the 5-1 win.
On Sunday there were just two games left to play, the first being the consolation game for third and fourth place between Michigan Dearborn and the underdog, St. Louis. What started out looking like a Dearborn game, the Billikens battled back and again tied the game at the end of the third period sending the duel into overtime, and again St. Louis pulled out the win and landing them in third place for the tournament. The last game of the weekend pitted number one Ohio against number two Illinois in what was a much anticipated meeting. The Bobcats were the first to light the lamp two thirds of the way into the first period as the man coming out of the box after his penalty put one into the Illini net. In the second period the Illini came out firing, putting two goals on the board within the first minute and thirty-six seconds, but that is where the Illini scoring ended. The Illini also kept the Bobcats out of the net until halfway through the third when Ohio was able to convert on a power play opportunity and tie the game up at two. Three quarters of the way through the third, Ohio was able to put in the go ahead goal with a blast from just inside the blue line. The Illini put the extra man on the ice as time was winding down, but Ohio was able to put on the pressure and kept the Illini out of the zone most of the time not allowing them many chances to tie up the game. Ohio held on to win the game and the league championship 3-2. The Illini who battled hard and played a good game brought home the second place cup as well as several player awards for the CSCHL. The Illini will finish up their regular season play this weekend as they take on the University of Minnesota.