Sept. 27, 2002

Final Stats?|? Notes

The Fighting Illini soccer team got a hard earned and much needed victory on Friday night, upsetting #24 Dayton 2-1. After a rough 1-3 road trip, the orange and blue returned to the friendly confines of Illini Soccer Field and upped their home mark to 3-0 on the season.

Dayton got on the board early when Tesia Kozlowski lofted a cross over the Illini defense to Liz Brown. Brown was able to slip a shot past Illinois goalkeeper Rachel Frank to put the Flyers up 1-0 only 2:16 into the game. However, the Illini were able to counter just two minutes later when freshman Paula Faherty took a cross from Tara Schuling and fired it into the back of the net for her first career goal. It was Schuling's first assist on the season.

After controlling play for much of the first half and narrowly missing several scoring chances, the Illini finally took the lead at the 38:55 mark. Hollie Schurr launched a corner kick from the left side that Meghan Kolze was able to get a head on. The ball sailed just out of Dayton goalkeeper Stephanie Weisenfeld's reach and the Illini had a 2-1 advantage.

In the second half, the Flyers took control of the flow and had some good scoring chances. However, they were not able to convert and the Illini held on for the hard fought victory. Weisenfeld, who had only given up two goals in six games coming into tonight, tallied two saves and allowed the two Illini goals.

Illinois goalkeeper Rachel Frank racked up five saves and allowed just the one early goal in her second career start. The freshman from Buffalo Grove, Ill., who is filling in for regular starter Leisha Alcia while she plays with the Canadian national team, improved her record to 2-0 on the season.

Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield was impressed with the freshman's composure in the net. "It's a tough thing for a freshman to step into a big game, her first game at home, and then to get scored on early, that could really rattle someone," said Rayfield. "It didn't rattle Rachel, she kept her composure stayed in it and had a shutout the rest of the way. That's a big credit to a freshman stepping in on a game like tonight. "

The Illini were the aggressors for most of the evening, out shooting the Flyers 15-10 and racking up six corner kicks to Dayton's two. In the first half, the Illini had many close calls that could have put the game out of reach, but they were unable to convert. This is something that Coach Rayfield would like to see changed.

"We had chances that against good team, he have to put away," said Rayfield. "I think we hit the post three times and that's the way this sesaon has been, we've had those kinds of opportunities and tonight we managed to finish two of them. For us to be good the rest of the way out, we have to finish more opportunities."

With the win, the Illini improve to 4-5 on the season and 3-0 when playing at Illini Soccer Field. Dayton, ranked number 24 in the latest soccerbuzz.com national poll, falls to 6-2 on the year. "Dayton's a good team, and that was a hard fought win for us," Rayfield said. "Tonight was really a team effort. To come back and score shortly after they scored was big for us. That's a response that we haven't seen. Illinois' heart stood out tonight, we wanted this game and were willing to fight for it."

Up Next: The Illini face Big Ten rival Northwestern on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m at Illini Soccer Field. It will be student day at the game, all UI students will receive free admission. Next weekend, Illinois continues its homestand by hosting Wisconsin on Friday, Oct. 4 and Minnesota on Sunday, Oct. 6.