After a dominant 7-0 victory the night before, the Illini (16-9-3, 35 pts.) found themselves in an early 1-0 hole against the Northern Illinois Huskies (10-18-1, 23 pts.) on Saturday night.
In the closing minutes of the first period, junior defenseman Matthew McDonald found himself open in the slot, received the pass and scored. Watching the play from just a few feet away was McDonald’s mother.
“It’s very exciting; he’s been hoping to get his goal this year,” said Kristy McDonald. “Having a goal now, and especially tonight, and having all these people here, it was epic.”
Matthew McDonald had been waiting a long time for this goal. The junior lit the lamp five times last season. This year, he went the first 25 games without finding the back of the net. Game 26 proved to be different.
It wasn’t just his mother on deck to see his stellar game. All four of his grandparents — Annette, Dee, Mac and Barb — and his father, Matt, were in attendance for the special moment.
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“It means a lot to me,” Matt McDonald said. “I try to make every game, but I’m usually busy. I have a busy work schedule, so I was just really glad to be here.”
The goal was Matthew McDonald’s second point of the weekend and his third of the season. He credited a lot of the work to his teammates.
“It was just a great sequence of plays by my linemates that helped with that goal,” Matthew McDonald said. “(Aidan) Taylor made a great play, getting the rebound off my initial shot, and then (Aidan) Andrews got it and made a great pass to me in the slot where I was able to shoot it past the goalie.”
His father described it more simply.
“Man, he was wide open in the slot,” Matt McDonald said. “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t have put it in.”
The younger McDonald recorded an assist on sophomore forward Aidan Taylor’s goal Friday night. It was Matthew McDonald’s first point since early November when he recorded an assist on sophomore forward Aidan Andrews’ first goal of the season.
Taylor and Andrews returned the favor Saturday. Both were credited with assists on Matthew McDonald’s goal. Matthew McDonald also gave a shout-out to the Greek Night crowd that brought a rare energy to the Ice Arena.
“We always appreciate the fans that come out to our games,” Matthew McDonald said. “It feels all the better hearing the packed building erupt when we score.”
The biggest thrill of the night for the standing-room-only crowd, however, did not come on a goal. It was the tilt between freshman forward Roman Chaian and Northern Illinois’ Daniel Lunn that had the arena the loudest.
Chaian and Lunn were disqualified for the remainder of the game. The home crowd gave Chaian a nice send-off, however, as the forward exited the ice to a serenade of cheers and applause from the fired-up masses.
The crowd also went home happy that night, as the Illini won 4-2 to complete the sweep. Some people were content just to see the win, some felt elated to experience a fight and some thrilled at seeing their relative score a goal.
@BrendanGallian
