Rochester, NY - After a day off, except for a short practice session, the Illini returned to the ice for the Semi-Final round of the ACHA nationals to take on the Liberty University Flames. After a hard fought battle, the Illini were able to dowse the Flames 4-2, and move onto the Championship round.

The Illini faced some hard hitting along the boards almost from the drop of the puck, and the back and forth battle actually led to the Flames out shooting the Illini in the first period 9 to 7. Each team would get two chances on the power play in the first period, but the Illini would be the only team to convert on the opportunities. At the 15:12 mark in the period, senior Alex Park would set up the Illini scoring, firing a shot from the point that would allow junior Jordan pringle to get the puck past Liberty's Mike Binnie, Jason Nemeth also assisting on the power play goal. Just over a minute later the Illini would extend their lead to two goals, as senior Nick Fabbrini would be battling in front of the net when a shot would be rebounded off to the side of the Flames goaltender allowing Fabbrini to fire it into to net. Picking up the helpers on the goal were Alex Park and Tim Gilbert.

A total of 27 shots on goal would be registered in the second period, with the edge going to the Illini by one shot, but of those shots, only one would find the back of the net, and that would cut the Illini's lead in half. Liberty would short circuit an Illini power play, and the Flames Dave Semenya would send a shot past sophomore Mike Burda in goal, making it a 2-1 game going into the third period.

Just two and a half minutes into the third period, the Illini would come away with a short handed goal of their own as junior Jordan Pringle would pick up a bad pass by the Flames, get past the defenders and streak into the Liberty zone on the break away. With a quick move to the right, Pringle would send the shot past Binnie to once again give the Illini a 2 goal lead. With time winding down in the period, it looked like the Illini may have things locked up, but with just over two minutes left in the game, Liberty's Pete Masterson would bring the game back to within one goal, picking up a rebound of the Illini's Mike Burda and sending back into the net. With less than a minute left in the game, Liberty would pull their goaltender, putting the extra man on the attack. Junior Jason Nemeth would get the puck and bank a shot off the board that would skim down the ice, heading toward the net, but hit the post and bounce outside, being called for icing. The following face off would come in the Illini zone, and would turn away the puck, once again giving it to Nemeth who for a second time send the puck down the ice, but this time hitting the mark, putting the Illini up 4-2 with just 48 seconds left in the game. The Illini would squelch any other attempts from Liberty, holding on for the win.

The Illini are now 37-0-0 on the season with just one more game left, one for all of the marbles, and the truly perfect year. At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, the Illini will take on that last opponent, Lindenwood University in the ACHA Championship game..