2B Monday, October 9, 2017
THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
HOCKEY
Illinois stays undefeated with weekend sweep of the Huskies BY ERICH FISHER STAFF WRITER
The Illinois hockey team has improved to 6-0 on the season after sweeping Northern Illinois at home. Despite the final score of the games, the Illini got off to rough starts in both of the games, finding itself trailing 1-0 early into the first period Friday and Saturday night. Illinois head coach Nick Fabbrini made adjustments, scoring three unanswered goals on Friday and outscored the Huskies 8-1 after the Huskies first goal on Saturday. “We started to tighten up the defense zone,” Fabbrini said. “I think we gave up eight shots in the period [of Satuday’s game] and then four in the second and third. That’s just a testament to these guys tightening down and taking care of our end first and that’s a key for us.” Junior forward Eric Svejda scored all three of Northern Illinois’ goals on the weekend, which included a snipe from the left wing to give his team a 1-0 lead approximately two minutes into the game. However, freshman forward Justin Reis continued his hot start to his rookie campaign, scoring the first Illini goal of Friday’s game and his second goal of the season.
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VOLLEYBALL
ELISABETH NEELY THE DAILY ILLINI
Tyler Opilka gains possession and takes the puck up the ice to Ohio’s zone at the Ice Arena on Feb. 11. Opilka scored his fourth goal of the season last Friday.
Illinois added on another goal in the second period when junior defenseman Tyler Opilka netted his fourth goal of the season. The Huskies did not back down to the Illini though, as they did not allow the Illini pull away, keeping it a 2-1 game until senior forward Eric Cruickshank scored a power play goal with only 1:02 left in the game. Gereau and Caroline Welsh, along with freshman Morgan O’Brien all had double-digit dig performances. Tamas said the team was able to step up because everyone has gotten the reps. “We just had to adjust and move on,” Tamas said. “We practice in a way that everyone sees every position, especially our defenders. They have been doing a nice job with that all season in practice, and it showed in tonight’s match too so I am happy to see that.” The main difference against Indiana was that Illinois was able to execute late in matches. All three set wins by the Illini were decided by five points or less. Tamas said the team will have to keep converting in those situations. “We are gonna find ourselves in close matches often,” Tamas said. “ It was good to see that we were able to take those moments and convert points out of them.”
“It took us a while to get going; part of that is attributed to Brandi not being in there,” Tamas said. “ But we challenged them to fight as a team, and they did that tonight.” The Illini accepted the challenge as they took the final three sets and had a hitting percentage over .300 in each. Bastianelli said it was the team’s effort that made the difference. “In our gym, we try really hard to have a relentless pursuit of excellence,” Bastianelli said. “That means going after everything and we take it personally if the ball hits our floor. It is always nice to see that people are laying their bodies out just so we can get that next point. I thought we especially showed that tonight.” A lot of players also stepped up in Donnelly’s absence on the defensive clevens2@dailyillini.com end. Sophomores Annika
AUSTIN YATTONI THE DAILY ILLINI
The Illini celebrate after scoring a point during the match against Purdue at Huff Hall on Friday, Oct. 6. The Illini lost 3-0.
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BROMANCE
it happens, but it’s all in good fun.” In their final season as members of the team, Cruickshank and Stueve are connecting on all cylinders ,as expected. Both have four points each to their names, Cruickshank with three goals and an assist and Stueve with one goal and three assists through five games so far this year. But once their lives outside of the University start to take off, it is still up in the air if the bromance will endure. “Playing on a triple-A team, you see each on the rink and you see on the weekends at games, but when you are living together, going out together, doing homework together, you get to know the guy so much better,” Cruickshank said. “Maybe we will be roommates after college.” “I hope not,” Stueve joked.
man and team captain Joey Ritondale has noticed. “I think they’ve developed a really good relationship,” Ritondale said. “It’s funny for everyone to see. They act like clowns in the locker room; they definitely bring the mood up a lot of times so it’s fun to be around them.” From the way Ritondale was initially talking about them, it seemed like there could be a real love triangle brewing, but he clarified that he is more interested in pinning Cruickshank and Stueve against each other. “We always like to get them riled up against each other and see what comes out of it,” Ritondale said. “It’s always fun to be a spectator of one of their arguments. We’re not the first ones to jump in on one of those when erichf2@dailyillini.com
That just shows the big night senior goaltender JoJo Durrbeck between the pipes for Northern Illinois, stopping the shots. Sophomore Jake Barnhart got the first start of his career for the Illini and allowed only one goal. Friday’s game was just the start of the big weekend Cruickshank was about to have as he scored twice in
the series finale. But, it was the play of the fresh faces on the roster that stole the show on Saturday’s game. Illinois forward Ricky Hatton skated his first time on the ice with the Division I team and scored his first career goal on a rebound opportunity to give his team a 3-2 lead with 5:38 left in the first period.
“It feels pretty awesome; it’s a lot more fun, and there’s a lot more people here,” Graham said. “[McGing] gave me a good pass, and I kind of closed my eyes, shot and it went it.” Everyone on Illinois’ first line notched goals on the night as senior forward Grant Stueve and freshman forward Andrew Richter joined Cruickshank with goals in the first period. Freshman defenseman Joe Nolan sniped a shot past senior goaltender Nick Bove’s glove side from the left faceoff circle. Then, sophomore forward Stephen Quinn went bar down in the third period to give the Illini their eighth and final goal of the game. Sophomore goaltender Ross Lipic is now 2-0 this season. With divisional play only about two weeks away, Fabbrini and his team will be looking to fine tune their play against McKendree University Friday. “We need to keep getting better,” Fabbrini said. “Minimizing mistakes is big for us and taking care of our defensive zone. Obviously, we have a lot of talent up front, and we are going to get our chances, so playing good defense it a key for us.”
“It feels pretty good,” Hatton said. “Everyone was moving really good, and it was a good game.” Another former Division II player scored his first career goal as defenseman Jack Graham buried a pass from senior forward James McGing in the back of the net to give the Illini a 6-2 lead roughly 2:30 into the second @ETFisher24 period. Erichf2@dailyillini.com
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ROWING they are called in the rowing community), back in March without any previous experience, yet still managed to place sixth at the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships. Unfortunately, she will not compete in “the highlight of her rowing career” again this year because the previous coach took his single shell with him when he moved to Boston. “It’s also kind of damaged right now, so it’s not rowable anyway,” Cusack said. She was also the women’s team secretary her sophomore year and placed at nationals in a two-person shell. Her role as team president comes with special responsibilities due to the team’s club status. According to rules set by the University, Cusack and senior Max McCarthy, the men’s team president, must manage administrative duties with the assistance of the team’s officers since it is a studentrun organization. “I’m not even allowed to talk to anybody in the administration,” Carter said. “Everything has to go through an athlete.” These responsibilities take up roughly 10 hours a week, estimated by Carter and agreed upon by Cusack herself. “I do all the room reservations, and for any events I have to go to the RSO office and talk to them about it,” Cusack said. “We’re basically the mediators between the University and the team.” Before trying out for the rowing team her freshman year, Cusack briefly considering playing club volleyball. She played volleyball year-round competitively throughout her childhood, but even early in her high school days at Decatur Christian School, she knew she wasn’t looking for any athletic scholarships as a 5-foot-11 middle blocker. Cusack majors in actuarial science and plans to work in the insurance industry as an actuary for five years. She then plans to return to school for her master’s and eventually get in business management. Cusack originally chose her major based on the results of a career aptitude test. At many other institutions, the novice team is restricted to just freshmen; however, the club team accepts anyone willing to commit to the team’s demanding training regimen. “We have seniors that are novices,” Carter said. Along with practicing at
WILL GERARD THE DAILY ILLINI
Two shells prepare to depart from the bubble dock, located on Clinton Lake. The Illini rowing team just finished practice.
5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, newcomers are expected to put in extra work once a week on the rowing machines at the ARC with a more experienced member of the team and are affectionately known as “Novice Buddies” by their veteran partners. The Illini practice six days a week. On Saturdays, the team gets the privilege of “sleeping in.” Practice isn’t until 7 a.m. On top of the expected workload, Cusack does her own cross-training. She tries to lift every other day and always runs one mile beforehand. Occasionally, Cusack boxes during precious free-time. “On the days I don’t lift, I try to at least run at least a couple miles (on a treadmill),” Cusack said. “Plus, it’s a nice study break for me, and my apartment has a gym, so that’s pretty convenient.” There’s little traffic on the road, and later on, even less traffic on the lake. The team practices early in the morning in an effort to avoid the presence of boats. Generally, the only other people on the lake are fishermen, who appear when training first begins at the start of the fall semester through early September. Every once in a while, there is a “close call,” according to Noel Naughton, the men’s novice coach, and due to the darkness, the only way to recognize the shells are by the lights located on the front and rear. Just two years ago, the club team started using Clinton Lake as a training facility. Previously, the team used Homer Lake.
Clinton Lake is a superior location in that the members of the coaching staff are now allowed to launch their motor-powered boats out on the lake in order to supervise and provide immediate feedback to crew members. Today, the practice plan is abbreviated, so that there is adequate time to “de-rig” the apparatuses attached to the shells, load the shells on a trailer and fully pack for the weekend’s upcoming races in Rockford, Illinois. The 32nd annual Head of the Rock Regatta is the first race of the year for the young team, and many compete in their first-ever rowing event this Sunday. At the Rock, there is an event running every 10 minutes with shells racing against the clock. The 5,000-meter race draws, on average, more than 2,000 rowers and 5,000 spectators from across the country. Launches are staggered every 20-30 seconds, causing a “steady stream” of boat traffic. Spectators at the finish line will sometimes mistake a side-by-side finish for a close race, according to Carter. “The Rock is always tricky because it’s the first race of the season, and we really don’t know what anyone else is doing,” Carter said. “Regardless of how they finish, I think it’s more about executing our technique the way we want to do it and staying in control.” In two weeks, the Illini head to the east coast for the Head of the Charles Regatta — the world’s largest twoday rowing event — located on Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Head of the Charles is
one of the largest singlesport sporting events in the world,” Carter said. “There are thousands of competitors over two days, and the spectators line the Charles River for 3.5 miles, and it’s just packed. It’s a very prestigious race.” Cusack’s eight-man varsity group is the first to depart on “The Queen of Darkness.” One by one, the Illini sit down on the shell, pushing off from the deck with their carbon fiber oars. The remaining groups depart in two groups of eight and two groups of four. Most of the shells are no longer visible, but Naughton explains the basic concepts of rowing and the challenges of being a novice coach while the boat makes its way around the lake as the rain continues to fall. Several times, he pulls nearby to a shell, providing instructions about the expected stroke rate while offering immediate feedback through his megaphone. At around 7 a.m., the shells begin making their way off the lake. Members of the team carry their shells up to the parking lot, where they are loaded in a large orange trailer, custom-made for the length of the shells. But, before the shells are loaded, the team must detach an assortment of custom boat accessories, where they are being packed in the same storage locker from earlier. The Illini frantically scramble around in order to finish packing for the weekend departure. @WillGerard10 wgerard2@dailyillini.com