Aug. 22, 2003
Box Score
Milwaukee, Wis. - Junior Tara Hurless and freshman Jessica Bayne each scored two goals as Illinois topped Marquette by a count of 4-0 in an exhibition match Friday. It was the Orange and Blue's second and final preseason tune-up before opening the regular season next weekend. The Illini tied Indiana State in an exhibition match on Sunday and finish the preseaon at 1-0-1.
Bayne, a freshman out of Triad High School in Troy, Ill., put the Illini on the board in 2nd minute. Sophomore Christen Karniski fed a free kick from 30 yards out to Bayne, who put the ball past MU keeper Katie Bissen. Hurless scored Illinois' second goal when she blasted a kick from 25 yards out that Bissen could not handle and a pair of Golden Eagle defenders failed to clear off the goal line.
Bayne scored her second goal just after the second half opened. In the 47th minute, Bayne forced a turnover five yards from the box, turned and fired a shot past Bissen. Then, just 5:52 into a predetermined sudden victory overtime period, Hurless notched her second goal of the evening. She took a feed from Bayne and scored from eight yards out to set the final score at 4-0.
"I noticed a lot of progress from the Indiana State game," said head coach Janet Rayfield. "Our front-runners were very organized and put a lot of pressure on Marquette's defense. All six of our front-runners (Bayne, Hurless, Tiffani Walker, Andrea Ridgeway, Brittany Ward, Eva Strickland) contributed to the goals. Their pressure was just relentless. Bayne and Hurless were the goal scorers tonight, but it could have been any one of the six. It will be nice to have that many scoring weapons when the regular season rolls around. Overall, we are very pleased with our performance tonight, however, we still have a lot to work on before the regular season begins."
"We are right were we want to be at this point," continuted Rayfield. "For us to get a win on the road and have it be a shutout is huge for our confidence. We struggled away from home last season, but hopefully tonight's experience will help our athletes figure out what it takes to be comfortable playing on the road."
Up Next: The Illini open up the regular season by hosting the Illini Cup at the friendly confines of UI Soccer Stadium next weekend. Illinois will face Oakland on Friday, Aug. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and will follow that up by hosting Ohio at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31.
