Feb. 13, 2009

Coral Springs, Fla. -

First Round Results in PDF Format

Quarterfinal Results in PDF Format

Different day. Different sport. Similar story. Trailing late in the event, Illinois rallied to edge Northwestern. Friday, the top-seeded and fifth-ranked Illini men's golf team used a huge effort on the back nine to defeat the eighth-seeded Wildcats 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Big Ten Match Play event. Illinois meets fifth-seeded Michigan, a 4-2 victory over fourth-seeded Iowa in its quarterfinal round match, in the semifinals Saturday morning at Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla.

The format features six individual matches between the schools. Heading into the final six holes, Illinois was leading two matches, trailing in three with one all square, but freshman Mason Jacobs, who trailed much of his match, came back to edge Matt Dennison 1-up at no. 6 and 15th-ranked Scott Langley. who trailed with four holes to play, rallied to defeat David Lipsky, 1 up at the no. 1 spot.

Another Illinois freshman, Luke Guthrie, defeated Jonathan Bowers 3 and 2 at no. 4 while junior Zach Barlow was in control all day in defeating Josh Dupont at the no. 5 spot, 4 and 3.

In other matches, Northwestern's Andy DeKeuster defeated Chris DeForest 2 and 1 at no. 3 and Eric Chun downed Illinois' Matt Hoffman 4 and 3 and no. 2.

"In match play there is little margin for error so most matches go down to the wire," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "I like the format because the importance of each shot. It makes sometimes comfortable moments uncomfortable. That's good experience for everybody.

"Our two freshman really came through and Scott rallied so I was encouraged with how we were able to respond as a whole under pressure," Small added.

Illinois saw Michigan twice during the fall. Through the first four events, the Wolverines were the only team to defeat the Illini, finishing first at the season opening Wolf Run Invitational to Illinois' second-place showing. The Illini defeated the Wolverines at the Windon Memorial in October winning the event with Michigan taking seventh.

"We know first-hand just how strong Michigan is," Small said. "There's no questions we'll have to play well to beat them and advance."

Indiana defeated Purdue 4-2 and Michigan State downed Wisconsin 3.5-2.5 in the other two quarterfinals. The Hoosiers and Spartans meet in the other semifinal match Saturday morning. The winners play for the championship Saturday afternoon while losers square off for third place.

First Round Results

No. 8 Northwestern 3, No. 9 Penn State 3 (NU wins in tiebreaker)
No. 10 Purdue 5, No. 7 Minnesota 1
No. 11 Wisconsin 3, No. 6 Ohio State 3 (UW wins in tiebreaker

Quarterfinal Matches

No. 5 Michigan 4, No. 4 Iowa 2
No. 1 Illinois 4, No. 8 Northwestern 2
No. 2 Indiana 4, No. 10 Purdue 2
No. 3 Michigan State 3.5, No. 11 Wisconsin 2.5

Second Round (Match 5) - Illinois def. Northwestern, 4-2

6. Jacobs (ILL) vs. Denison (NU) -- ILL wins 1 up
5. Barlow (ILL) vs. Dupont (NU) -- ILL wins 4 and 3
4. Guthrie (ILL) vs. Bowers (NU) -- ILL wins 3 and 2
3. DeForest (ILL) vs. DeKeuster (NU) -- NU wins 2 and 1
2. Hoffman (ILL) vs. Chun (NU) -- NU wins 4 and 3
1. Langley (ILL) vs. Lipsky (NU) -- ILL wins 1 up