Oct. 28, 2003

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Fresh off a weekend sweep and its best ever regular season Big Ten finish, the Illinois women's soccer team reached another milestone when the latest national rankings revealed that the team has reached its highest national ranking in program history. The Illini are ranked 12th in the latest NSCAA/Adidas Coaches poll, up threes spots from last week. Prior to this week, Illinois' previous high ranking was 15th, which was set in 1999 and equaled last week.

In addition to the NSCAA poll, Illinois also appears in two other national soccer polls. The Illini are ranked 12th in the Soccer Buzz Top 25 and are 15th in the Soccer Times Coaches Poll. Illinois is ranked second in both the NSCAA and Soccer Buzz Great Lakes Regional rankings as well.

With one regular season game left and the post-season to follow, the Illini hold a record of 12-3-2 and are approaching the school record for wins in a season, which is 14. The Orange and Blue already completed their best Big Ten season in school history by finishing second in the conference with a 7-1-2 mark.

This weekend, the Illini will close out the regular season by hosting Butler Friday night at 7 p.m. The following weekend they will head to the Big Ten Tournament in Madison, Wisc. as the second seed, where they will face seventh seeded Michigan State in the opening round on Nov. 6.