December 9, 2007 - The Illini closed out the semester perfectly as they downed the Illinois State Redbirds in a pair of matching 11-1 games this weekend. The Illini dominated the majority of both games, firing a total of 113 shots at ISU's net while giving up only 32 shots. Both seniors Drew Heredia and Johnny Liang picked up 7 points between the two games, with Heredia netting a hat-trick on Friday night.

It didn't take long to for the Illini to give the Redbirds a taste of what they were in for on Friday night, as Captain Drew Heredia put the Illini on the board in the first two minutes of the game with a power play goal. Just five minutes later, freshman Tim Gilbert would score his first career goal as an Illini to give the home team a two goal lead. Illinois State would cut that led in half with a goal with just over two minutes left in the opening period, but another goal by Heredia and a power play goal from Daniel Cohen would give the Illini a 4-1 lead after the first 20 minutes. Two more power play goals would be scored by the Illini in the second, One from Alex Park and the other from Matt Jennings, separated by an even strength goal from Pat Mannina. The already lopsided game would get more so as the Illini notched four more tallies in the third. Heredia would start things off with his third goal of the game, followed by the more special teams goals. Tim Gilbert would get his second goal of the game on the power play, while Alex Park would net his second while skating shorthanded. Andy Betourne would cap off the Illini scoring with a later power play goal. The domination by the Illini allowed the Redbirds to put only 8 shots on goal total for the game, compared to the Illini's 52.

Illinois State would triple their number of shots on goal Saturday night, but Illini Freshman Nick Pecoraro would allow only one to get past him in his first start. It took the Illini a little longer to get started, but once they did, the tallies kept coming. Tim Gilbert would start off the scoring late in the first, and Jason Nemeth would add one more 15 seconds before the end of the first. Johnny Liang would score the Illini's only power play goal of the night halfway through the second period. Pat Saliba and Drew Heredia would net a pair of goals to give the Illini a 5-0 edge before the Redbirds finally would be able to get on the board with a goal of their own. Johnny Liang would answer that goal however with the 6th Illini goal just 17 seconds later. The Illini would put 5 more points on the board in the third period, two of which would come while short handed. Matt Jennings and Alex Park would score the two shorties, while the additional goals would come from Joey Resch, Jason Nemeth, and Mark Price who netted his first career goal.

The number one ranked Illini are now off until January 4th, 2008 when they will open the second half of the season on the road to take on the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

( Game One Box Score ) ( Game One Recap )
( Game Two Box Score ) ( Game Two Recap )