Redbirds JV Clinch MACHA - Silver Playoff Invite - Updated

The Redbirds JV squad extended their winning streak to 5 in a row with a sweep over Northwestern  this weekend in their 5^th and 6^th consecutive games at home. Northwestern needed to win both games in regulation in order to qualify for a playoff spot, so the Birds’ knew their opponent was going to come out playing hard.

The puck dropped at the Pepsi Ice Center at 9:20 pm, and the first game was underway. Northwestern played the first period with great intensity, and superb puck control. You could say they dominated the play, but outstanding goaltending from A.J. Riley kept ISU in the game. However, Northwestern’s Jim Larson did find the back of net scoring the only goal in the first period with 4 minutes left.

The second period was more even. Illinois State seemed to get a wakeup call from Coach Mussey in the locker room, because they came out playing much harder. It took 14 minutes of back and forth action, but finally Yurchak’s line found twine and tied the game at one goal apiece. Nettleton did a fantastic job of avoiding a check behind the Northwestern net, and then he threaded a perfect pass to Yurchak who was standing alone in the slot. Yurchak snapped a shot for his first of two goals on the game. The tie was broken rather quickly, when Northwestern scored just 30 seconds later. NW’s Clinton snuck a backhander through Riley’s five-hole. The score would remain 2-1 going into the third.

The first 10 minutes of the third saw Illinois State fail to convert at least five quality scoring chances. It seemed that all of the momentum was in the Redbirds favor, but a quick goal off of a faceoff sucked the life out of the whole building. With the entire Redbird bench in shock, and only about seven minutes left in the game, you might think ISU would have given up, or lost confidence, especially after how amazing the opposing goalie was playing. Thankfully, that was not the case. The boys in red battled back extremely hard. Yurchak and Nettleton created more magic with 4 minutes left to bring ISU within one. The clock was now working in Northwestern's favor as each second that ticked away was one second closer ISU was to losing. With just a minute and thirty-five seconds left in the game, Johnny O received a pass from Grunert. He skated in on a 2 on 1, and looked to pass. When the NW defended took away the passing lane, Johnny O cocked back his stick, picked his corner, and unleashed fury on the NW goalie with a blistering snap shot that went bar down and tied the game up at 3-3. With that shot, the ISU bench jumped to life and the Northwestern bench was in absolute shock. Just a minute before they had the game in the bag, and their playoff hopes were still alive. In a last minute effort to score and win in regulation, the stunned Northwestern squad pulled their goalie. This move would cost them the game as Chris Wagner stole the puck and skated into the NW zone only to look up and see an empty net. As the entire ISU bench was screaming “Shoot!” Wagner just tapped in the game winner and sealed Northwestern’s fate as a non-playoff team. It sure is fun to play spoiler.

In game two, Northwestern still came out playing hard, so you have to give them credit for not being discouraged after the tough loss the day before.

Wagner started game two as he ended game one, with scoring a goal. Wagner walked in front just minutes into the game and spun around to his backhand; with a quick flick of the wrist, the puck was in the net. Just three minutes later, Freitag unleashed his patented one-timer slap shot on the goalie when Grunert gave him a perfect pass in the slot. The shot whizzed through the goalie’s five-hole and put ISU up 2-0.

The second period started with two quick goals from both teams. First, Sammy Wheeler, NW’s most dangerous sniper, walked in and took a snap shot that flew right over Meek’s shoulder. The one goal deficit would not last for long as just 2 minutes later Wagner scored his second of the game and third of the series with a wrist shot from the slot. A few minutes later, Korbecki found the back of the net with a perfectly placed wrist shot. That would be ISU’s last goal of the game. NW scored once more in the second period when Martin Klassen buried a rebound. The score was 4-2 ISU going into the third.

The third period was back and forth, but it was ultimately just a goalie duel. Meek stood on his head and made several key stops to keep Illinois State up by two. The score would remain 4-2 for the rest of the game, as neither team potted a goal in the third. Illinois State was happy with their sweep of NW, and is now carrying a 5 game winning streak into the playoffs.