2015 Illini Soccer Schedule

Champaign, Ill. – Fighting Illini Women's Soccer and head coach Janet Rayfield have announced the 2015 slate, which features matchups with several top-25 opponents. Illinois will face two opponents for the first time in Northern Kentucky and TCU. The Illini will also see a familiar face as former Illini assistant coach, Eric Bell, will lead the Horned Frogs to Champaign for the first-ever match up with his former team.

"With two great pre-season games, we will know early on what we have accomplished in pre-season and what we need to build on during our non-conference schedule in order to be prepared for the increasingly challenging Big Ten Conference schedule," Rayfield said.  "We need to bring our best from the start of this schedule to the end and take each game as the most important game on our schedule. We travel out West and take on two great teams, we play the best of those around us, we welcome home an old friend and colleague, and we take on a challenging slate of Big Ten foes.  The 2015 season will be a great one for fans and for our team."

The Illini start off with a pair of challenging exhibition contests, facing NCAA Tournament teams Virginia and Notre Dame. NCAA runner-up Virginia closed the season with a No. 2 ranking, while the Irish sat at No. 11 in the country.

Rayfield and her squad will face three more NCAA Tournament teams throughout the season, including Washington, Rutgers and Illinois State.

The regular season home slate begins with a 7 p.m. contest against Oakland on August 21, followed by a trip to in-state rival Illinois State the following Sunday (Aug. 23). Last season the Redbirds advanced to the second round of NCAA tournament play, closing the season with a 16-6 record overall.

"Our non-conference schedule gives us a chance to position ourselves within the region as well as test ourselves outside the conference and the region," Rayfield said of the season's start.  "The 2015 lineup of opponents presents us with enough challenges to prepare us for a grueling Big Ten bill that hopefully leads to a long postseason slate of games as well."

Illinois returns home for a pair of games the next weekend, hosting TCU for the first time in program history (Aug. 28), followed with a matchup against Saint Louis (Aug. 30). The Illini hit the road for the Nike Classic in early September, facing west coast powerhouses Washington and Portland (Sept. 4, 6). Washington advanced to the third round of last season's NCAA tournament, while the Portland Pilots are a staple in NCAA tournament play as the program has made 21 NCAA appearances in its 28 years of NCAA Division I existence. The Illini will close non-conference play with a home match against Northern Kentucky on September 11.

The Orange and Blue open conference play on the road at Indiana (Sept. 18) and Purdue (Sept. 20), before returning home to host a trio of Big Ten opponents. Illinois will face Rutgers, who earned a No. 25 ranking to close the 2014 season after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championship.  Maryland and Ohio State will make the trip to Illinois as part of the three-game homestand as well.

"After great stretches of long distance travel last fall, we are looking forward to the more balanced home and away conference schedule we face this season," Rayfield said.  "With the new format of playing 11 regular season conference games rather than 13, the quest for a regular season title becomes that much more difficult and RPI impacts can be crucial.  Our success in every game will be critical for our RPI given our schedule that omits two of the top RPI teams in our conference, Penn State and Wisconsin.   However, I am confident that the conference continues to reach greater levels of parity and 2015 will be a great season for Big Ten Women's Soccer."

Illinois heads north for a pair of games at Michigan (Oct. 8) and Michigan State (Oct. 11), before hosting another three-game home stretch in October. The Illini will welcome Iowa (Oct. 15), Nebraska (Oct. 18) and Northwestern (Oct. 24) before closing regular season play at Minnesota on Oct. 28.

Big Ten Quarterfinals are slated for Nov. 1, to be hosted by the highest seeds, followed by remainder of the tournament Nov. 6-8 also hosted by the highest remaining seeds. NCAA Tournament play is set to begin Nov. 13 and continue until Dec. 6.