Oct. 27, 2000
Champaign, Ill. -
Illinois Head Coach Tricia Taliaferro wanted her team to get back on track following last week's loss at Iowa. The home turf was just what the doctor ordered as the Illini took out the Western Illinois Westerwinds, 8-0.
"We focused on making good fundamental decisions this week," said Taliaferro. "We did a nice job of that, and it was nice to see so many players contribute. Overall our play was where it needed to be after a good week of practice. Hopefully we can carry that effort into Sunday's game with Iowa State."
Illinois set a school-record with 36 shots to WIU's 3 and set a school mark with 362 shots for the season. Freshman Tiffani Walker and sophomore Colleen Joyce led the shot parade with five shots apiece. Illinois had 23 of its 36 shots on goal. "Our shots on goal percentage was really high today. That's a sign that we're starting to finish more."
The Illini did start a little slow, but once things started going in the right direction, the express was rolling. Freshman Tara Schuling got Illinois on the board with a booming shot from 30 yards out at 27:58. Tiffani Walker made it 2-0 with a point-blank shot off an assist from Emily Brown who headed the ball into the box. Tara Schuling completed the first-half scoring with a successful penalty kick at 36:19.
Illinois was clicking on all cylinders in the second half. The Illini gave Jennifer Smith a shot at playing the back. She, Heidi Holtzman, Sue Hodson, Laura Lantz, Rebecca Patrick, Meghan Kolze, and Kristen Holman did a nice of job of keeping the ball in the proper third of the field. Patrick nearly scored when she dribbled within 10 feet of the goal and fired a shot from the right side that hit the post.
The Illini's top two goal scorers took over matters from there. Colleen Joyce notched her eighth goal of the year assisted by Brown at 49:53. Brown scored her 12th goal of the year nine minutes later on a header off a Schuling corner. Less than a minute later, freshman Kelly Walker scored unassisted on a blast from 20 yards out. Schuling scored her fourth point of the game on an assist, heading the ball forward for Laura Freeman to take the ball one-on-one and score her fourth goal of the season at 71:29.
Freshman Maggie Kellett completed the scoring when she took a corner kick from Lantz and deflected it off a Western defender for the final tally of the game.
"We've been working on our play in the box," Kellett said.
The Illini led in total shots 36-3, in corner kicks 10-1 and in shots on goal 23-1. Sarah Anderson improved her record to 6-1 on the year in goal for Illinois.
The Illini and Iowa State square off at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Cyclones are 7-8-2 on the season, they do hold a 2-0 win over Iowa earlier in the year.
