University of Illinois Ice Arena has seen a lot in its 93-year history. Everything from recreational broomball to speed skating championships has happened under its silver ceiling. Now, it will add another season of Illinois hockey to that list.
The Illini make their home debut this weekend against the Michigan State Spartans after splitting their opening series with the McKendree Bearcats last weekend.
Junior winger Gregory Etingen leads the Illini with three goals this season. This is thanks to his hat trick in their opening game. Etingen and forward Carson Mitchell are tied for the team lead in points, each having three.
Senior defenseman Atticus Helfer, whose shootout goal propelled Illinois past Michigan State last season, has two assists on the year. Similarly, senior defenseman Harrison Slovick has two assists this season. They’re both tied with forward David Ras for third on the team points leaderboard.
Senior goalie Nolan Woodring played all 120 minutes this past weekend. He allowed eight goals on 52 shots, which gives him a .846 save percentage.
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Michigan State has yet to begin its season, but its top-five leading scorers from last year are all returning. This includes 20-goal-scorers Nicholas Borchardt and Josh Melachrinakis. That duo netted three of the Spartans’ six goals against the Illini last season.
The Spartans also return their elite goaltending trio of Aidan Klingbeil, Connor Benoit and Ryan Griffin, who combined for a .942 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average last season.
The Illini (1-1-0, two pts) return home tied for second place in the Midwest College Hockey Conference. Midland (1-0-1, three pts) sits atop the standings, while McKendree (1-2-0, two pts) is just behind. Northern Illinois, Jamestown and Waldorf all dropped both games of their opening series, and the remaining teams have yet to start competition.
In their meeting last season, the Spartans took the opening game 3-1, but the Illini won game two 4-3 in a shootout. Both Gregory Etingen and sophomore forward David Etingen scored in that series, along with senior defenseman Nick Andersen, all three of whom returned this year.
The puck drop for both games is at 7 p.m.
