Urbana, IL - On a bone-chilling afternoon in Urbana, Illinois, the University of Illinois Fighting Illini and the Indiana University Hoosiers met in a GRLC showdown.

The Hoosiers came into the game with a record of 2-0, with wins over Missouri University and Missouri Baptist.
The Illini entered with a record of 0-0, and an exhibition win over Carthage College.  They looked to avenge last year’s disappointing loss at the hands of the Hoosiers in another snow-filled matchup.

The Illini struck early and often, as they scored the game’s first 3 goals in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead.  Goals by Ricky Valencia and Stephen Black held the Indiana defense in check early on.  However, the Hoosiers bounced back to tie up the game at 3 on a man-down penalty by the Illini.  This, however, would be as close as the Hoosiers would get to the Fighting Illini on the day.

The Illini owned the 2nd quarter with a 3-0 margin.  Goals by Scott Pfiffner, Joe O’Malley, and Doug Sutherland put the Illini up 8-3 at the midway point, with considerable momentum going into the 2nd half.

The Illini wasted no time at all out of the gate in the 2nd half, as Doug Sutherland won the faceoff and took it the length of the field to set up a great play with Scott Pfiffner finishing the job to put the Illini up 9-3 with less than 30 seconds gone by in the 2nd half.  From there, the Illini never looked back.  They went on to take total control of the game while posting another 7 goals.  Goals by Steve Arendt, Jimmy Driscoll, Nate Prescott, Vinnie Casini, JJ Sestrich, Ricky Valencia and Rhys Southworth sealed the deal as the Illini enjoyed a large lead and large success against the Indiana defense.

Goalie Eric Rakoczy got the win, with excellent support from backup goalies Joe Lucido and Curt Peterson in the cage.  The Illini defense held the Hoosiers in check all game, with excellent play from Phil Dodson, Alex Burt, Neal Sullivan, Chris Fallon, and the rest of the team.

The Illini look to build on their winning ways in their next contest against Marquette University on March 20 at the Techny Fields in Northbrook, Illinois.

Game Notes: The win gave the Illini a 1-0 record in the GRLC…The Illini avenged last year’s loss to the Hoosiers…Scott Pfiffner led the Illini with 3 goals, Joe O’Malley led the Illini with 4 assists, and had 6 points overall to lead the team…Scott Pfiffner once again led the Illini in loose balls with 9…Goalie Eric Rakoczy stopped 9 of 13 shots faced to record the win in the cage…