No. 7 ACHA Hockey Sweeps Away Illinois State

MEQUON, Wis. – The seventh-ranked Falcons picked up another quality victory over regionally-ranked Illinois State on Saturday. The Falcons soared to an 8-2 victory to improve to 23-6-0 on the season.

Senior Sam Weiss (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) started the scoring when he tapped in a rebound off a shot from junior Ian Malcolmson (Waukesha, Wis.). 

Senior Alex Way (Ottawa, Ont.) struck again on the power play with a shot off the crossbar and into the net off passes from Ian Malcolmson and senior Jacob Palmerio (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.). 

The Falcons struck again on the power play on the stick of Alex Way off tic-tac-toe passes from Ian Malcolmson and Sam Weiss. 

The Redbirds found the back of the net 37 seconds later and cut the deficit to one after another rebound putback a minute later. 

Both teams had quality opportunities in the second period, but senior Mack Willy (Tacoma, Wash.) came up with some big saves to keep the Redbirds out of the net.  

The Blue and White broke the game open in the third period with five goals, including four on the power play. 

Jacob Palmerio started the period with a goal off assists from sophomore Garrett Wilderman (Waukesha, Wis.) and Ian Malcolmson. 

Three minutes later, Ian Malcolmson snuck the puck past the Illinois State netminder with senior Lucas Kreuser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and Alex Way adding the assists.  

The lone even-strength goal came from junior Michael Fradette (Victoria, B.C.) with an assist to Garrett Wilderman. 

The blue birds were able to take advantage of a five-minute major with two power-play goals.

Alex Way completed the hat trick at the 12:36 mark of the period with Ian Malcolmson and Sam Weiss adding the assists.

The final goal of the evening came from Lucas Kreuser via Alex Way and Ian Malcolmson.

Mack Willy finished with 29 saves.

CUW held a 73-31 advantage in shots on Saturday, including a 30-4 advantage in the third period. Alex Way led the effort with 12 shots.

The Falcons also won 49 faceoffs with senior Scott Gregor (Ashland, Wis.) leading the way with 17.

The seven power-play goals are a program record.

The Falcons look to win their first-ever conference title next weekend with a series against DePaul.