Illini Media
WPGU
buzz
Illio
TechnographHockey club named national champions
No. 1 Illinois beats No. 2 Lindenwood to finish season undefeated, 38-0-0
By Wes Anderson
Posted: 3/6/08 Section: Sports
A dream season came to a perfect end for the Illinois hockey club at the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championships in Rochester, N.Y. A 4-2 victory over No. 2 Lindenwood in the tournament finals on Wednesday night secured the Murdoch Cup and an unblemished 38-0-0 record.
Senior center Drew Heredia scored twice in his final game as the Illini won their second national championship and first-ever perfect season.
The championship game was the fifth meeting between the two teams this season and the third time the top-ranked Illini have played the nation's No. 2-ranked team.
In their bid to upset the nation's top ranked team, it was the Lions who struck first in the tournament final, as Lindenwood forward Larry Kopecky scored 10 minutes into the first period.
Illinois would storm back, however, rattling off three unanswered goals to assume a 3-1 lead, which lasted until a late second period goal from Lions forward Travis Bokina, keeping the game close entering the final 20 minutes.
Neither team found a clear advantage in the third period until a precise Johnny Liang pass to Tom Connell set up a backhanded shot that found the net and gave the Illini a 4-2 lead.
From there, Illinois kept its conference rival at bay, as goaltender Mike Burda and the Illini defense preserved the two-goal lead despite the Lions desperate attempts to score in the final minutes with their goaltender pulled.
The mostly pro-Illini crowd erupted after the final buzzer sounded, chanting "38-0!" as the Illinois players stormed the ice.
Heredia, the team's captain, was named the tournament's most valuable player after the victory, while Brad Hoelzer and Liang were named to the first all-tournament team and Burda earned second all-tournament team honors.
Head coach Chad Cassel won his second national title in his 11th season with the team, the first coming in 2005.
Senior center Drew Heredia scored twice in his final game as the Illini won their second national championship and first-ever perfect season.
The championship game was the fifth meeting between the two teams this season and the third time the top-ranked Illini have played the nation's No. 2-ranked team.
In their bid to upset the nation's top ranked team, it was the Lions who struck first in the tournament final, as Lindenwood forward Larry Kopecky scored 10 minutes into the first period.
Illinois would storm back, however, rattling off three unanswered goals to assume a 3-1 lead, which lasted until a late second period goal from Lions forward Travis Bokina, keeping the game close entering the final 20 minutes.
Neither team found a clear advantage in the third period until a precise Johnny Liang pass to Tom Connell set up a backhanded shot that found the net and gave the Illini a 4-2 lead.
From there, Illinois kept its conference rival at bay, as goaltender Mike Burda and the Illini defense preserved the two-goal lead despite the Lions desperate attempts to score in the final minutes with their goaltender pulled.
The mostly pro-Illini crowd erupted after the final buzzer sounded, chanting "38-0!" as the Illinois players stormed the ice.
Heredia, the team's captain, was named the tournament's most valuable player after the victory, while Brad Hoelzer and Liang were named to the first all-tournament team and Burda earned second all-tournament team honors.
Head coach Chad Cassel won his second national title in his 11th season with the team, the first coming in 2005.
The Daily Illini encourages on-topic discussion through article commenting on its articles and blogs. It is our policy not to delete any comments based upon political or ideological point of view. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive, off-topic or use excessive foul language.
The posting of copyrighted material, including any and all content for which you are not the author, is illegal under Federal intellectual property laws. Such activity will not be tolerated. Comments containing copyrighted material will be removed, and continued violation of copyright law is grounds for being banned completely from commenting on DailyIllini.com.
If you feel any post meets these conditions or merits review, please e-mail our editors at meonline@dailyillini.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
stan price
posted 3/06/08 @ 6:03 AM CST
Congrats to all the guys, awesome season. Well done!!!
Illini Fan
posted 3/06/08 @ 9:18 AM CST
Congratulations to Coach Cassel and the entire team! What an exciting season for you guys, and every Illinois sports fan!
Erlenmeyer
posted 3/06/08 @ 1:07 PM CST
Great Job! Easily the most under appreciated story on campus this year. What a shame.
C. Eliason
posted 3/06/08 @ 2:22 PM CST
Great season as always but this was just awesome.
Congratulations to the whole club!
J.Penn
posted 3/06/08 @ 2:57 PM CST
Awesome-- Chad and your guys!!!!!A season to remember.
Post a Comment