Oct. 13, 2002

Final Stats

The Fighting Illini soccer team continued to struggle away from Illinois Soccer Field with a 2-1 loss to Ohio State on Sunday. With the defeat, the Illini drop to 6-8-0 overall and 2-5-0 in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Ohio State improved to 4-8-1 overall and 2-4-1 in conference play.

The game was a tale of two halves as the Illini came out strong in the first. Sophomore Tara Hurless put the Illini up 1-0 at the 26:20 mark on an unassisted header past that sailed past the Ohio State keeper and into the middle of the net. It was Hurless' team leading ninth goal of the season. Illinois had several other scoring chances in the first half, firing six shots on goal to Ohio State's one. But they could not extend their lead and went into halftime with just the 1-0 advantage.

The second half was a different story as the Buckeyes scored two early goals to take control. Danielle Dietrich tied the game at 1-1 on free kick goal at 52:13 in the second half. Seven minutes later at the 59:42 mark, the Buckeyes would add another goal, which proved to be the game winner, when Lisa Grubb scored her fifth goal of the season. OSU was much more aggressive in the second half launching nine shots on goal to the Illinois' one.

"We dominated the first half," said Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield. "We had four clear chances in the first 20 minutes and didn't convert. We left them in the game and we cannot do that, especially on the road. We leave the outcome to chance when we have the ability to put the game away and don't. As long as we are unable to put teams away, we are leaving things in fate's hands, and fate has not been kind to us this year."

Much of OSU's second half turnaround can be attributed to the fact that, for the third time this season, the Illini finished the game a player down. At the 52:01 mark of the game, Illinois senior Tara Schuling was charged with a red card to give OSU the man advantage. The Buckeyes capitalized immediately as their first goal came directly off the restart. After that, it was tough for the Orange and Blue to mount much of a threat.

The loss is the Illinois' fourth straight on the road and drops their record away from Illinois Soccer Field to 1-7. Rayfield attributed Sunday's loss to the early missed opportunies.

"On the road it becomes even more important for us to capitalize on our early chances," Rayfield said, "because as long as we leave the game close, their fans get behind them and they feel like they're still in the game, even if they're getting dominated. To give a team hope at their field is the worst thing you can do, because it becomes magnified. We cannot continue to do that."

Illinois goalkeeper Leisha Alcia did all she could to keep the Illini in the game by stopping eight Buckeye shots, seven in the second half, but it was not enough. Ohio State keeper Emily Haynam saved six shots and earned the win in her first career start.

"Our focus now is on making the Big Ten Tournament," said Rayfield. "That's a tough place to be in with a team as talented as this one is, because we had some lofty goals at the start of the season. As the season goes on, sometimes you need to adjust your goals. How we respond to that will be a test of this team's character."

Up Next: This weekend, Illinois returns home to face #20 Purdue on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., and Indiana on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m.