Sept. 10, 2000
Soccer coach Tricia Taliaferro and freshman Sarah Anderson comment following Sunday's win over Northern Illinois.
Box Score
Six different Illinois players scored, four posted their first goal of the season, two of which posted their first career collegiate goal.
The Illini's eight goals are the most since Sept. 13, 1998, when the Illini blanked Louisville 9-0 and the most at home since an 8-0 win over Western Illinois on Oct. 24, 1997
The overall shots spelled the difference in the game. Illinois (4-1 overall) posted 35 shots to NIU's five, 17 of those shots were on goal. One of the themes for Illinois this season has been the numbers of weapons on the team. The Illini's all-time leading scorer Emily Brown didn't mind seeing many of the rest of her teammates score during the first two weeks of the season, but Brown was the story of the weekend for the Illini with three goals, two coming on Sunday.
"Overall we have a lot of weapons," said Illinois Head Coach Tricia Taliaferro, "It has just been a matter of getting the chemistry so we can utilize them. We're working well together and that's where you're starting to see some goals from some of the other players."
Brown poked home the first Illinois goal at 10:25 on an assist by Lisa Baldwin, then added another goal 15 minutes later on an assist from freshman Jennifer Smith. Five games into the season, its' a freshman, Colleen Joyce, who leads the Illini in goals scored. Joyce notched goals three and four on the season, one coming on an assist by Brown and the other from freshman teammate Jennifer Smith, who posted two assists on the day. Illinois led 4-0 at halftime.
The Illini continued the pressure in the second half. Sarah Rowland scored her first goal of the year at 64:57 on a nice cross from Kristen Holman. Maggie Kellett took a near-perfect corner kick from Kim Doetzel and turned it into goal Illinois goal six on the afternoon at 71:18. The final two goals came just 45 seconds apart. Tara Schuling settled a ball in the air and fired it into the net, and then Mary Nitsche whistled a ball past the Huskie goaltender for the final tally of the game at 84:34.
Illinois has out-shot its opponents 134-32 in the first five games and has 69 shots on goal to the opponents' 20.
"We're playing well right now," said Taliaferro. "Our chemistry and discipline is where it needs to be. I thought we played with a lot of heart this afternoon. I'm excited to get into the Big Ten season because that's what we've been gearing up for."
