The No. 20 Illini hockey team didn’t step off the bus from Ohio until 4:30 in the morning on Sunday and the players were in need of some rest after two very close, physical and intense games against the No. 4 Bobcats.

The Illinois-Ohio rivalry was renewed this weekend, with each team winning by just one goal and both game-winners coming late in the third period of each game.

“These were some of the most intense games I think I’ve ever played in,” said senior captain Austin Bostock, who has been battling the flu since Friday night. “I think it was a typical Illinois-Ohio matchup.”

After a heartbreaking 2-1 loss Friday in which Ohio scored the game-winning goal with 31 seconds left in regulation, Illinois fell into a 3-1 hole on Saturday. The Illini were able to rally back, however, scoring three goals in the final period to steal a 4-3 victory over the Bobcats.

Senior forward Eddie Quagliata and sophomore forward John Olen each had power-play goals in the final period to tie the game, and with just under three minutes left, senior forward Matt Welch netted the go-ahead score for the Illini. Senior goaltender Nick Clarke and the Illinois defense killed off an Ohio power-play opportunity, and the Illini secured the comeback victory.

“It was a huge win for us,” head coach Nick Fabbrini said. “They really left everything out there this weekend. All 19 guys in the lineup gave it everything they have, which is the way that we need to play every game here going forward.”

Fabbrini said the Illini were emotionally drained after the close loss Friday and didn’t like how they started off the game on Saturday. Ohio was dominating the puck early on and after they scored just five minutes into the opening period, Fabbrini called a timeout to calm his team down.  

“We’ve been blown out a few too many times this year, and if we continued playing like we did those first couple minutes, it would have been another blowout,” Bostock said. “I think when (Fabbrini) took that timeout he kind of settled us down. I don’t know if guys were overthinking or squeezing their sticks too tight, but it was a whole different team after that one-minute timeout.”

Senior forward John Scully was able to get the Illini on the board shortly after the timeout, and the Illini hung around long enough to mount their dramatic comeback in the third.

Fabbrini thought the difference between the loss and the win came down to level of desperation.

“I think we lack urgency sometimes,” he said. “We had plenty of chances to score power-play goals on Friday, we just didn’t do it. We had good looks all weekend long, it was just a matter of time before we were able to score.”

The victory was huge for Illinois’ bid for a spot in the ACHA tournament, especially after losing by just one goal to a top-five team in Ohio. With Clarke playing at a high level and five goals scored from four different players, the pieces seem to falling into place at the right time for the Illini.

“I’ve said it all year, I like our chances against anybody when we show up and we compete for a full 60 minutes,” Fabbrini said. “I think that as long as we’re able to sustain the effort and energy level we had this weekend, we’ve got a great shot of getting in (the ACHA tournament) and a good shot of making some noise when we get there.”

Joey can be reached at [email protected] and @joeyfigueroa3.