No. 14 Texas Tech University "Whips" Illinois State University 13-8 in National Collegiate Club Championship Opening Round

Jake Hines

2011 National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results

ATLANTA, Ga. -- The Red Raiders of No. 14-nationally ranked Texas Tech University made their first game in program history at the National Collegiate Club Championship one to remember as Taylor Whipple (Gr., Eagle, Idaho) whipped in five goals to earn Player of the Game honors and key his squad to a 13-8 win over Illinois State University in the opening round of the tournament at Georgia Tech University.

Texas Tech, which claimed the Texas Division title with an 11-9 win against perenninal power the University of Texas, used a six goal second period to construct an 8-4 halftime lead in rolling past the Redbirds of ISU.

A key to the game was the defensive pressure the Red Raiders were able to put Illinois State under in the field as Texas Tech notched five steals, including a pair by Jake Hines (So., Tomball, Texas), to cage the Redbirds offense in picking up the five goal victory.

The game did not appear to be destined to end in the Red Raiders favor early on as Cody Corradino (Fr., Oak Forest, Ill.) broke free for a tally 32 seconds into the game to provide ISU an early 1-0 lead.

Following four consecutive fruitless possessions by Texas Tech, the Lone Star state representative struck as Jake Bundy (Gr., St. George, Utah) juked around his defender and popped a shot past goalie Matt Temple (Jr., Highland Park, Ill.) on an exclusion chance at 3:37 to erase the deficit.  The tie lasted for under a minute as Chad Conlin (So., Belchertown, Mass.) cocked and shot a ball into the twine at 2:50 with the two teams at even-strength to provide the Raiders a 2-1 margin at the end of the period.

However, the Redbirds would not fly the coop as Mike Byron (Jr., Barrington, Ill.) hammered home a howitzer-shot on a man-up opportunity 15 seconds into the second period to balance the scoreboard.  Illinois State continued to gain momentum as Will Davidson (Fr., Mundelein, Ill.) dented the iron with a heave at 5:13 to return the 'Birds to the lead at 3-2.

In the wake of unsuccessful man-up bids at 5:00 and 4:34, Texas Tech's offense exploded as the Red Raiders bombed away from the outside, inside two-meters, from the wings and on man-up chances to post six goals in under three minutes to take a lead they would not relinquish.

At the center of the barrage was Whipple who started the run with a natural marker at 2:51, tacked on a man-up goal at 1:25 and flipped in another even-strength marker with 41 seconds left in the first half to account for half of Texas Tech's frenzied damage.

David Garett (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) followed Whipple's game-tying first strike at 2:51 with one of his own at 2:28 to make it 4-3 in favor of Texas Tech.

Exclusion opportunities then turned the tide of the game as Byron connected on a man-up bid at 1:55 to tie the game, but Whipple (1:25) and John Cogliandro (Sr., Humble, Texas) (1:06) responded with special-teams tallies of their own to push Tech back in front at 6-4.

Whipple (00:41) and Bundy (00:15) closed out the run by scoring off turnovers to make it 8-4 at the break and put ISU on its heels entering the second half.

The Red Birds were unable to recover from Texas Tech's "shock and awe" second period campaign as the squads exhanged shots in the third period and the Red Raiders managed a 3-2 scoring advantage in the fourth period for the five-goal spread at the final horn.

In cage, Ross Tarhini (So., Tomball, Texas) made three saves in the first half to earn the win for Texas Tech, with Johjanes Griffith (Gr., Flower Mound, Texas) adding seven saves in the second half in a relief appearance.  For ISU, Temple accounted for eight stops while suffering the defeat.

The victory advances Texas Tech into the second round on Saturday, November 12 where the squad will meet the victor of a first round game between No. 18 Yale University and No. 20 Villanova University.  Illinois State will meet the fallen of the Bulldogs-Wildcats fight at 8:40 p.m. this evening in the consolation bracket.

Texas Tec Goals: Taylor Whipple (5); Jake Bundy (3); Chad Conlin (2); John Cogliandro; David Garett; Damien Hines

ISU Goals: Mike Byron (4); Will Davidson (2); Nick Lauf; Cody Corradino

Saves: Texas Tech -  Ross Tarhini (3, 14 minutes), Johjanes Griffith (7, 14 minutes) ; ISU - Matt Temple (8)

Exclusions: Texas Tech -  6 ; ISU - 7

Advantage Opportunities: Texas Tech - 3-for-7 ; ISU - 3-for-6

Sprints: Texas Tech - 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; ISU - 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th)

Texas Tech University's Jake Hines