Champaign, IL - It may have taken the Illini 22 minutes to find a way to get past Kent State's goaltender Ryan Gregory, but when they did, they lit him up like a Christmas tree, netting 5 goals in 14 minutes. The Illini dominated most of the game, but it was the Illini's 25 shots on goal, 5 goal second period that was pretty much the undoing of Kent State in Friday nights 6-1 win over the Golden Flashes.

From the drop of the puck the Illini came out and took control of the game. The Illini kept the puck out of the hands of Kent State, and when they did get it, the defense slowed them down, allowing them only 4 shots on goal for the period. The Illini on the other hand sent 16 shots towards the Flashes net, but were unable to get the biscuit in the basket and were also unable to convert on the periods only power play chance.

The Illini started the second period with a man advantage thanks to a late first period KSU penalty. Just 1:25 into the period is when the Illini goal scoring started as Jordan Pringle put the puck in the net as a blast from Alex Park jumped out of the glove of Kent State's Gregory, Jason Nemeth also assisting on the power play goal. One minute and seven seconds later sophomore Mark Ergun would pass the puck from behind the net and through the slot on the tape of senior Ricky Gomez's stick who then fired the puck into the Flashes net. At the 5:06 mark junior Tom Connell would pick up his 10th goal of the season, getting off a shot from the slot that would find nothing but net. Freshman Daniel Cohen and Mark Ergun earned the assists on the 3rd Illini goal. The Illini would rush into the Kent State zone, and with some sharp passing from Jason Nemeth, to Johhny Liang, it would finally get to captain Drew Heredia who would put the puck past the Flashes netminder at the 11:09 point. Senior Nick Fabbrini would end up with the puck, after some quick passes from Tim Gilbert and Alex Park, and would net the Illini's fifth goal with a shot from the side of the net. The Illini would outshoot the Golden Flashes 25 to 7 for the second alone.

It would be Kent State the would start the third period with a man advantage due to an Illini bench minor for delay of game, and get another chance shortly after as the Illini were handed another bench minor, this time for too many men on the ice, but the Golden Flashes would be unable to convert on the power plays. It wouldn't be until the teams were skating 4-on-4 when both teams would be able to find the back of the net. Drew Heredia would pick up his second goal of the night getting off a shot from in front of the net at the 17:07 mark. 37 seconds later Kent State's Dave Bruder would answer back sending a shot that would whistle past the Illini's Mike Burda, ending his chance for the shutout. The Illini would more than triple up on the number of shots by Kent State, with 57 shots on goal compared to the Flashes 16.

The Illini picked up 4 more league points in the 6-1 win over Kent State and remain 10 points back from the first place Lindenwood Lions. The Illini play the second game of the match with Kent State on Saturday night with a 7:00pm start.