Oct. 29, 2003
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Scouting the Bulldogs
Butler enters the weekend with an 8-7-2 record and a 4-2-0 mark in the Horizon League. Last week, the Bulldogs lost at Miami (Ohio), 3-0, but rebounded to beat Detroit 5-0 at home. Senior Amy Pike (21 pts., 8 g, 5 a) and sophomore Meredith Buemi (18 pts., 7 g, 4 a) lead a Bulldog attack that has scored 25 goals on the season. Senior Krista Rott (13 pts., 4 g, 5 a) is also a dangerous threat for BU. Junior Katie Sanders and Freshman Megan Cappa have split time in goal recently. Sanders has seen more action this season, making 59 saves and allowing 12 goals in over 1060 minutes (1.01 GAA). Cappa has played in over 500 minutes, allowing 8 goals (1.40 GAA) while making 28 stops.
The Illini won the only previous meeting between the two schools, 4-2, last season in Champaign. Illini junior Tara Hurless scored twice and Meghan Kolze and Tara Schuling also scored for the Orange and Blue, while Buemi notched both Butler tallies, her only two scores of the season. Butler is coached by Woody Sherwood, who is 70-59-7 in his fifth season at the helm of the Bulldogs.
Senior Night
Prior to this Friday's regular season finale vs. Butler, the four seniors on this year's Fighting Illini squad will be recognized, along with their parents, for their contributions to Illinois soccer over the last four - or in some cases five - years. 2003 seniors include Meghan Kolze, Jennifer Smith, Kelly Walker and Tiffani Walker.
Let's Review
The 15th ranked Illini cruised to a pair of shutout wins over the weekend to improve to 12-3-2 on the season. On Friday night, the Orange and Blue routed Northwestern, 4-0, in the Big Ten finale. With the win, the Illini finished the Big Ten season in second place with a 7-1-2 record, the best in school history, and locked up their highest ever seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament (2nd seed). Tara Hurless scored two of the Illini goals, while Eva Strickland and Andrea Ridgeway scored the others. Leisha Alica made four saves to earn the shutout.
On Sunday, the Illini topped UW-Green Bay, 2-0, in a non-conference affair. Hurless scored the first Illini goal, her team-leading 12th and her sixth in the last four games. Freshman Sarah Brown also scored her first goal in the win. Alcia made two saves to earn her eighth shutout of the season, extending her school record for shutouts in a season.
Illini Cruise to Best Ever Big Ten Finish
Illinois put the finishing touches on their best-ever Big Ten regular season with the 4-0 win over Northwestern on Friday. The Orange and Blue finished the conference slate in second place with a 7-1-2 record, 23 championship points and a second seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, all bests for the UI program. Penn State won its sixth straight regular season crown with a 9-1 mark, and will be the top seed in the Tournament, which starts Nov. 6. Prior to this year, the Orange and Blue's best Big Ten finish was third place with a 6-3-1 mark back in 2001. All-time, the Illini have compiled a 35-38-5 record against Big Ten foes, including a 5-5 mark in the Big Ten Tournament. Over the last four seasons, Illinois has gone 23-14-3 in league play.
Alcia Nabs Thirds Big Ten Honor
Junior GK Leisha Alcia was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row and the third time this year after leading the Illini two more shutout victories over the weekend. The Mississauga, Ontario native made four saves in Friday's Big Ten finale vs. Northwestern and then recorded two saves in a 2-0 victory over UW-Green Bay to earn her school record shutout eighth shutout of the season.
The award was the fifth of Alcia's career and was the fourth won by an Illini this season. Meghan Kolze took home Defensive Player of the Week honors on 9/16 after shutout wins over Evansville and Illinois State. Alcia won the award a week later on 9/22 after posting shutouts against Michigan and Michigan State and then was honored by the league again last week after her outstanding play at Indiana and Purdue.
Red Hot Hurless
Junior striker Tara Hurless continued her hot streak with three more goals over the weekend. The Rockford, Ill. native scored twice in UI's 4-0 win over Northwestern and then added the game-winner vs. UW-Green Bay, giving her six goals in the last four games. She pushed her team-leading season total to 12, tying a career high, and now has 34 in her career, which ranks second on the Illinois career list.
Second Half Surge
It is unknown what Coach Rayfield says to the team at halftime, but whatever she says, it must work. So far this season, Illinois has outscored its opponents by a count of 20-4 after the intermission, and have outshot their oppoents 158-77, while taking 43 corner kicks to the opposition's 19 after the break. Not coincidentally, in three of the four games the Orange and Blue have given up a goal after halftime, they have lost (Oakland, Auburn and Penn State). The only time Illinois has been successfull when allowing a goal after halftime was in a 2-1 win at Georgia. When holding the opposition scoreless after the break, Illinois is 11-0-2.
Strickland, Brown Get on the Board
Freshmen Eva Strickland and Sarah Brown have both been big contributors for the Illini all season, however, neither has been able to put a goal on the board, until last weekend that is. Strickland, who has played in all 17 games and started three this year, got her first goal on a header in Friday night's win over Northwestern. Brown, a defender who has seen a lot action as of late, headed home her goal off a corner kick in Sunday's victory over UW-Green Bay. Both scores came off assists from Christen Karniski.
In addition to her score over the weekend, Strickland also added an assist vs. Northwestern, and now has five on the season, all coming against Big Ten opponents, to lead the league in assists during confernce play. Earlier in the season against Minnesota, the Seattle, Wash. native assisted on all three UI goals to tie the Illinois record for most assists in a game.
Illini Keep Climbing in National Polls, Reach Highest Ever Ranking
The Illini moved up to the 12th spot in both the NSCAA/Adidas Coaches Poll and the Soccer Buzz Magazine Top 25 this week, and also moved up to the 15th position in the Soccer Times poll as well. Illinois moved up three spots in both the NSCAA and Soccer Buzz polls and shifted four spots in the Soccer Times rankings. The No. 12 ranking in this week's coaches poll is Illinois' highest ranking ever in a national poll. Illinois' previsous high ranking of 15th was set back on Sept. 21 of 1999 and was equalled last week.
Big Ten Tournament Pairings Set
The bracket for the upcoming Big Tournament was released earlier this week. The second seeded Fighting Illini willl square off against seventh seeded Michigan State in the first round at 10:30 a.m. central time. The Tournament runs from Nov. 6-9 and will be held in Madison, Wisc.
Thursday, November 6
No.2ILLINOIS (12-3-2) vs. No. 7 Michigan State (10-7-0), 10:30 a.m.
No. 3 Purdue (10-3-3) vs. No. 6 Indiana (7-8-1), 1:30 p.m.
No.4Michigan (6-6-6) vs. No. 5 Ohio State (10-3-3), 6:00 p.m.
No. 1 Penn State (16-2-2) vs. No. 8, Wisconsin (8-8-1), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 7
ILL/MSUwinner vs. PUR/IU winner, 4:30 p.m.
MICH/OSUwinner vs.PSU/WIS winner, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 9
Championship Game, 1:00 p.m. - broadcast live on CSTV
All Times Central
Home Sweet Home
In six seasons of soccer, Illinois has compiled a mark of 45-21-1 (.679) at home, including a mark of 34-14-1 (.704) at Illinois Soccer Stadium. The Illini have shutout their opponent in 23 of those home contests. So far this season, the Illini are 7-2-1 at home, while outscoring their opponents by an 18-3 margin. On Oct. 12, the Illini had a school record string of six straight home shutouts snapped by Penn State.
Rayfield Quotables
On the team's approach to two non-conference games that come between the Big Ten season and the Big Ten Tourmament...
"These non-conference games test us in different ways and test our mentality. On Friday, Butler is going to come in here and fight, because a game against us could make or break their season, so we'll have to be ready for that. We're going to see different opponents in the NCAA Tournament, so we'll just try to use these non-conference games to get better."
On the team's second place Big Ten finish...
"I told the team after the game that if you had told me we would be 7-1-2 in the Big Ten and without a loss on the road, I would have said that was a huge step forward for the program. Obviously, when you get that close and don't win a title, there is a slight sense of disappointment, but there is a real positive in that this program just took a huge step forward in terms of the performance in the Big Ten."
