Article by Colleen O’Connell

With a pair of Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC) wins last week that pushed its winning steak to eight games, Illinois has been selected as the final Onyx/Riddell Lacrosse MCLA Team of the Week for the 2008 season. The Fighting Illini upset rival then-No. 20 Lindenwood and added a convincing victory over Nebraska.

“All last week, we had competitive practices,” said head coach Doug Shanahan. “Since I took over, we have been working on our transition game and pushing the pace. We have been conditioning more so that we’re not dying off and can be competitive in all four quarters.”

In its first game of the week Saturday, April 16, Illinois hosted Lindenwood, a team the Illini have not defeated in the last six meetings. Lindenwood held a 4-1 advantage through the first quarter, but an injury to Lions’ goalie Tim Jennings resulted in Illinois making a slight change to its game plan.

”We were more liberal with our shooting,” explained Shanahan. “We worked on making smart shots all week. When they put in Josh Hunt, we decided to test the waters and see what he could do.”

Illinois and Lindenwood traded goals within the first five minutes of the second quarter with the Lions holding a 5-3 advantage. However, the Illini used their first three-goal run of the game to take a 6-5 lead. Ricky Valencia started the run at the 9:14 mark, scoring off a pass from Bobby Ridlen, while Joe O’Malley scored just six seconds later off a Joe Dodson feed that tied the game. Dodson found Valencia for the go-ahead goal with 5:08 left in the half, but Lindenwood’s Jonathon Diplock’s tally evened the game at 6-6 with 1:31 remaining, which would be the score as the teams entered halftime.

Illinois jumped out to a fast start in the third quarter, going on its second three-goal run. Valencia gave the Illini the 7-6 advantage just 26 seconds into the quarter, recording his third goal of the game off a Scott Pfiffner assist. Pfiffner closed out the run by scoring back-to-back goals separated by just 18 seconds at the 10:50 and 10:32 marks. Lindenwood and Illinois traded goals before the Lions closed the quarter with a Mike Courseult goal at 57 seconds and allowed Illinois to hold a 9-7 advantage.

Powered by a four-goal fourth quarter, the Illini put the game away, marking the end of a six-game losing skid to Lindenwood.

“The kids were ecstatic,” said Shanahan. “Overall, I’ve been pleased with the team’s turnaround. It was tough in the beginning and then getting past the turmoil, but culminating it all with a win versus Lindenwood is nice.”

Illinois came back the next day with a 25-5 route of Nebraska. The Illini score 15 of their goals during the first half alone, including an 11-goal second quarter.

“We led 4-1 at the end of the first and didn’t want an emotional letdown from the day before,” noted Shanahan about his team’s 11 goals. “In between the first and the second quarters, I told the team if I had to call a timeout to stop their run, we would do up-downs on the sideline in order to get them motivated.”

Illinois had 17 players register at least one point during the game, including 14 with at least one goal. Dodson led all players with six goals, recording five goals and one assist.

A key factor to the Illini’s success on the week was Sutherland’s performance at the face-off x. Sutherland was 22-for-29 (75.9 percent) on the week, going 14-for-20 against Lindenwood and 8-for-9 versus Nebraska.

“He has been really solid,” said Shanahan. “He had a couple tougher games versus Michigan and Arizona State, but we’ve worked on his timing and anticipating the whistle. As we do drills, Doug gets better and adds more offense.”

After re-entering the Lax World MCLA Division 1 Top 25 Poll ranked 24th this past Wednesday, Illinois carries its eight-game winning streak into its regular season finale against Missouri State Friday, April 25.

“It feels great,” stated Shanahan about his team’s winning streak. “The confidence level is at an all-time high among the players and the staff. The guys have really stepped it up.”

For being selected as the Onyx/Riddell Lacrosse MCLA Team of the Week, Illinois will receive a prize pack from Onyx/Riddell Lacrosse, including one Riddell XR Lacrosse Helmet customized in Illinois’ team colors.

Riddell Lacrosse helmets are exclusively distributed by Onyx Lacrosse. For more information on Onyx Lacrosse and the Riddell Lacrosse Helmet, please visit http://www.OnyxLacrosse.com