Sept. 23, 2001

Final Stats

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Fighting Illini women's soccer team shutout Michigan State, 2-0, this afternoon at the Illini Soccer Stadium. With the win, the Illini completed a sweep of the Spartans and the Michigan Wolverines on the opening weekend of Big Ten play. Illinois is now 4-2 overall.

"We were fortunate to have two home games to start conference play," head coach Tricia Taliaferro said. "Everybody is contributing and creating chances for each other. Overall we played well as a team, and now it's time to focus on Minnesota."

Freshman Tara Hurless opened up the scoring for the Illini when she nailed a shot off an assist from Hollie Schurr in the 28th minute. Just 1:13 into the second period, Illinois struck again as Tara Schuling knocked in a Colleen Joyce foul kick. The Illini continued to play strong inside taking 15 shots on goal out of 27 attempts.

Meanwhile, the Illini defense was fierce, holding the Spartans to just 10 shots, only one of which was on goal. Illinois continued to play aggressively throughout the contest being called for 21 fouls, 13 in the first period.

The Illini take their unblemished Big Ten mark to Minnesota on Friday before stepping out of the conference to visit Evansville on Sunday.