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By Will Freihofer

The University of Illinois has been selected as the latest CollegeLAX Team of the Week following their success against LSA opponents Texas and Texas A&M on their annual spring break trip. The Illini, ranked #24 in the latest Prodigy MCLA Division 1 Poll, made a case for further ascent in the rankings by going 2-0 on the trip.

“It was definitely a good trip,” said head coach Joe Dodson. The Illini’s wins on the team’s journey south marked something of a departure from Illinois teams past, said Dodson. “This was the first time our seniors have won a game on spring break,” he said, “to go 2-0, that was great.” 

Coach Dodson said his team was prepared for a tough match going into their game against Texas A&M, as the Aggies handed them an 11-8 loss last season in St. Louis. Dodson said the Illini’s improvement was evident on the field in this year’s meeting of the two teams. “We just really weren’t organized (last season) the way we were this year,” said Dodson. “We really executed.”

Illinois benefited from good ball possession and ground ball play in the first half of Monday’s game in College Station, with goals from Dan Dickson, Nate Prescott and Stephen Black contributing to a commanding 9-2 lead for the Illini at the half. Black would go on to finish with four goals to lead his team in scoring on the day. By game’s end 11 Illinois players found the back of the A&M net as the team continued their strong play in the second half for a final score of 16-7.

Preparing for their next opponent, coach Dodson said he warned his squad to be prepared for a tough University of Texas team Tuesday. “I told them that they can’t let up,” said Dodson. Things started more slowly for the Illini against the #19 Longhorns, with the teams trading goals throughout the first half for a 4-4 score at the end of two quarters. Dodson said lengthy offensive possessions on both sides of the field kept the game a relatively low scoring affair in the first half.

It took the Illini until the third quarter to open up the first multi-goal lead of the game, one they added to with four straight 4th quarter tallies to remain undefeated with a 10-7 win in Austin.

Coach Dodson credited the play of senior attackman Nate Prescott as key in both wins. “He stepped up in both games,” Dodson said. Coach Dodson said that he expected Prescott to be a solid possession attackman this season and has been impressed with his recent contributions on the scoreboard. Prescott notched six points in the two Illinois wins in Texas.

Illinois will continue their out-of-conference spring this weekend with matchups against PCLL opponents Northeastern and Boston College. Hoping to extend their current five game win-streak, the Illini will look to match their last trip’s success in their games Friday and Saturday against another two tough programs. ”They’re both east coast teams, so we’re expecting solid play and stick skills from both of them,” said Dodson.

CollegeLAX will recognize one MCLA team each week during the 2009 season. To nominate a deserving program, contact CollegeLAX by email.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 5:29 pm and is filed under GRLC, MCLA News, Team of the Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.