Aug. 29, 2003
Box Score
Champaign, Ill. - The Fighting Illini defense gave up only one shot on goal in their season opener against Oakland Friday night. Unfortunately for Head Coach Janet Rayfield and the Illini, that one shot found the back of the net giving Oakland a hard fought 1-0 victory at Illini Soccer Field in the first ever Illini Cup.
"We held a team one shot on goal," said Rayfield. "It's hard to say I am pleased with anything on a night like tonight, but I think we are making progress in the sense of playing good team defense."
"Soccer is not a high scoring game," Rayfield continued. "Some nights you can fight and fight and get 16 shots and not put the ball in the back of the net. We were capable of keeping this a shutout so it's disappointing that we couldn't finish the job."
The lone goal of the game came in the 66th minute when the Grizzlies Erica Demers served a free kick over the Illini defense and into the box to Kristi Swaving, whose header beat Illinois keeper Leisha Alcia into the lower right corner of the net. The Illini had several chances to tie in the closing minutes, including a pair of corner kicks in the final 60 seconds, but could not hit pay dirt.
Illinois out-shot the Grizzlies 16-5 on the night and had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks, but Oakland goalkeeper Sarah Buckland was flawless in making four saves.
"We had some good chances tonight, but we just couldn't get our foot on the ball and finish," said Rayfield. "We're going to have to work together to figure out how to get the ball in the back of the net. We were dangerous tonight, we had 16 shots, but with that many shots you need to put one in the back of the net somewhere along the line."
In the first game of the night Southeast Missouri State got goals from Erin Slattery and Valerie Henderson to earn a very wet 2-1 win over Ohio. Gina Siedentoff scored Ohio's lone goal. SEMO will face Oakland on Sunday at noon, while Ohio will take on the Fighting Illini at 3 p.m.
Up Next: The Illini (0-1-0) will close out the Illini Cup on Sunday when they face Ohio (0-1-0) at 3 p.m. at Illini Soccer Field. Then next weekend, the Illini will embark on their only non-conference road trip, making stops in Georgia and Alabama. First, the Orange and Blue will head to Athens, Ga. to take on the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. (ET). They will then travel to Auburn, Alabama to face the Tigers on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. (ET).
