Lake Barrington, IL - The Fighting Illini opened their season Saturday with a game against division 3 opponent Carthage College at the Lake Barrington Sports Complex. The Red Men came into the game with a record of 1-1, while the game was the first contest of the season for the Illini.

The Illini shook off some early-season rust during the first quarter with early goals by Middies Stephen Black, Ricky Valencia, and Dan Dickson.

The second quarter saw the teams settle into their game, allowing the Illini to own the quarter 2-0. Strong defense by Phil Dodson, Alex Burt, Neal Sullivan, and Chris Fallon held the Red Men scoreless at halftime. Winning goaltender Eric Rakoczy finished a strong first half with saves on 4/4 of his shots faced.

The second half featured a slew of man-down situations fueled by Illini penalties, when the Red Men registered their first 3 goals of the night in the third quarter on man down and two men down situations. With a suddenly closer than expected game, the Illini buckled down to win the fourth quarter 2-1, behind solid face-offs from Doug Sutherland (75%), and excellent ground ball play as well.

The Illini look to build momentum heading into their next contest at home vs. Indiana University on March 1.



Game Notes: Middies Ricky Valencia and Stephen Black both registered a team high 4 goals in the game...Attackmen Scott Pfiffner picked up a team high 9 ground balls and Attackmen Joe O’Malley registered a team high 2 assists…The win was the first for new Head Coach Joe Dodson…