Flashes prove they can beat No. 2 Illinois

Dec 7

Kent State split the weekend at Illinois with a 2-0 shutout win on Friday and a 7-5 loss on Saturday. The No. 17 Flashes went into the weekend looking to show that they could compete with the No. 2 Illini.

“This was a building weekend for us,” captain and defenseman Kye Budziszewski said. “We know that we can hang with the best teams in the nation.”

The penalty kill was a strong point for Kent State on Friday with the Flashes shutting down eight power play opportunities for the Illini.

“The defense did a great job of executing on the penalty kill,” senior goalie Ryan Gregory said. “They stopped a lot of chances before I had to.”

Gregory played outstanding in net all night and stopped 42 shots from the Illini. He served them their first shutout in about a year, according to Illini radio broadcasters.

After a scoreless first period, sophomore forward Justin Phenney scored a highlight-reel goal with just under eight minutes to play in the second period.

“He toe-dragged the defenseman, stepped to the slot and scored,” freshman forward Ryan Chance said.

Then with five minutes left in the game, Phenney and junior forward Eric Horschler set up a shot for junior forward Ryan Thomas to score.

The Flashes still had to stop an Illini 6-on-4 power play when Illinois pulled its goalie with less than three minutes left.

“It was easier to play the 6-on-4 because we had Junior’s (Ryan Thomas) insurance goal,” Gregory said. “It helps you to know that you’ll still be up by one if they score.”

Kent State played hard until the final buzzer Friday night, and they carried that attitude into Saturday’s game, although it ended in a 7-5 loss.

Phenney reminded the Illini they were in for a fight when he scored just over a minute into the game. The Illini followed up with a power play goal four minutes later, and the first period ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Flashes had trouble with their penalty kill throughout the rest of the night on the extra-wide ice at “The Big Pond.”

“Killing the amount of penalties we did, combined with the larger ice surface, was pretty tough on our legs,” sophomore forward Andy Hanno said. “Saturday's PK just wasn’t up to par because of that.”

Illinois scored another power play goal at the start of the second period, but junior forward Kevin Colleran answered with a power play goal right off the faceoff to tie the game.

The rest of the second was filled with bad calls and odd bounces. Senior forward Dave Bruder’s breakaway was stopped when an Illini player hooked him, and Illinois scored when the puck bounced off of a player.

“They got a lot of lucky bounces,” Phenney said. “There was nothing we could do about that.”

Illinois ran up the score 6-2 before senior defenseman Jon Moser and Phenney scored back-to-back goals late in the third. Thomas scored his second of the weekend with a minute left in the period to bring the game to a 7-5 score.

Although the Flashes were down by two, they never let up on the Illini. They finally came through on their promise to play a full 60 minutes of hockey.

“We wanted to sweep those guys more than anything,” Hanno said. “In the final minutes a lot of guys decided that we were not going to lie down.”

Kent State will continue to use that attitude when No. 3 Ohio comes to town this weekend for a series of games.

“We’re proud of how we played,” Phenney said. “If we keep it up, this could be a turning point for our season.”

Next Home Games:  

Friday           Dec 11          vs OHIO            8:15pm

Saturday       Dec 12          vs OHIO            7:15pm