October 21, 2004 | Soccer
Oct. 21, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After hosting their last conference matchup at home, the 19th ranked Illini are 11-4-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the Big Ten heading into Friday's game against Northwestern. The Illini went 1-0-1 last weekend against Purdue and Indiana, defeating the Boilermakers 2-1 October 15 and posting a 1-1 draw against the Hoosiers October 17.
Finishing upon scoring opportunities and playing a full 90 minutes has been the key skills that continue to elude the Illini. In Sunday's game against Indiana, the Illini Ied for the majority of the match before giving up the tying goal at the 89:45 mark.
"I thought we didn't manage the game well at the end of the second half. I thought we gave the ball away too much," said assistant coach Eric Bell. "We allowed them to have the ball, and then an opportunity to win the game in the final minutes. We can do a better job of game management, as far as keeping the ball. Then, we would have a better chance of winning the game."
With the last conference match on the horizon, the Illini are aware of what the importance of closing out the conference season on a high note means for their postseason position.
"We're all anticipating Friday," said senior midfielder Chris Sinak. "This whole week has been about preparation. This is our last game in the Big Ten. The tie on Sunday was definitely a blow to us. On Friday we need to make sure we get it done. No mental lapses in the last five minutes. No letting them squeak by to get a goal in. We're ready to go in. After what happened on Sunday, you better believe we're fired up for Friday. We'll be ready to go."
Northwestern at a glance...
The Northwestern Wildcats enter Friday's matchup with an overall record of 9-6-1 and 5-4-0 in the conference. Last week, NU posted a 2-0 weekend against Indiana and Purdue, boosting them over .500 and into sixth place in the Big Ten.
The Wildcats have made vast improvements to their squad since 2003, when they finished ninth in the conference. This season, NU has put up large numbers in goals with 34 on the season thus far. The Wildcats are led by freshman forward Kelsey Hans, who has 12 goals on the season and is at the top of every offensive statistical category except assists.
Northwestern is not without its experienced players, with seniors Ashleigh Garmon and Carolyn Hack also making up a portion of Northwestern's starting lineup. Garmon entered this season ninth on NU's all-time list with 13 career goals and 10th all-time in career points with 30. Hack started every match in the backfield for NU in 2003 and has two goals this season.
In the back, Northwestern's primary keeper has been sophomore Whitney Jones. Jones has posted three shutouts this season and has a GAA of 0.86, allowing 18 goals and making 58 saves.
The Wildcats are coached by Jenny Haigh who is 28-35-8 in her fourth year at Northwestern.
The Last Time...
Illinois 4, Northwestern 0
Oct. 24, 2003
Illinois Soccer Stadium--Champaign, Ill.
The Fighting Illini scored four second-half goals to pull away from Northwestern for a 4-0 win in Friday night's Big Ten finale at Illinois Soccer Stadium. With the win, the Illini clinched its best-ever Big Ten record and its highest ever conference finish and tournament seed. The Wildcats, who needed a win to get in the Big Ten Tournament field, dropped to 7-8-1 overall and 3-5-1 in the league.
After Michigan beat Michigan State earlier in the day, Northwestern knew that it needed a win against the Illini to earn a berth in the Big Ten Tournament. While Illinois dominated possession in the early going, the Wildcats were able to keep their hopes alive by keeping the game scoreless for the first 63 minutes. However, it was only a matter of time until the Illini offense would break though.
After failing to score on several good opportunities in the first half, the Illini offense finally broke through in the 64th minute when Andrea Ridgeway was able to capitalize on an NU mistake. A Wildcat defender, attempting to clear the ball out of the box, misplayed it and Ridgeway was right there to pick it up. She took a few touches toward the goal and beat NU goalkeeper Whitney Jones far post from eight yards out on the right side. It was Ridgeway's fourth goal of the season, and would open the floodgates for the Illini offense.
The Orange and Blue would strike again eight minutes later when Tara Hurless took a feed from Paula Faherty at the top of the box, touched once and fired a rocket into the top right corner of the net from 20 yards out to give the Illini a 2-0 lead. Just five minutes later, at the 76:29 mark, freshman Eva Strickland put home a header for her first career goal to put Illinois up 3-0 courtesy of an assist from Christen Karniski.
With less than two minutes to play, Strickland served the ball into the box from the left side and Hurless was there to head it just inside the right post from five yards out to give the Illini their fourth and final goal of the night.
The UI defense was once again outstanding, limiting the Wildcats to just six shots and four shots on goal for the night, while the Illini fired 23 shots with eight being on goal. UI goalkeeper Leisha Alcia made four saves and played all 90 minutes to earn her seventh shutout of the season.
Illini Notes
· Senior Leadership
The contributions of the Illini senior class of 2004 have been immense to a program that has made great strides in the past few years. Under head coach Janet Rayfield and her coaching staff of Dale Armstrong and Eric Bell, the Illini went from a 9-11-1 2002 season to a 16-4-2 record in 2003, the second-highest improvement among Division 1 women's soccer programs that year. The five young women making up the 2004 senior class had a lot to do with that jump in success. For Leisha Alcia, Alaree Gunville, Tara Hurless, Andrea Ridgeway and Chris Sinak, their time as members of the Fighting Illini soccer team has had its share of ups and downs from a sudden coaching change to a Big Ten Tournament Championship. However, their experiences, good and bad, have served to make them stronger competitors, a quality that has been passed on to younger teammates.
"I admire Tara's (Hurless) ability to take players on one on one," said freshman forward Ella Masar. "It is pretty unbelievable. She still seems to amaze me with some of the stuff she can pull out. She taught me how to be confident with the ball."
Newcomer Erin Pilkington continues, "(Chris) Sinak is constantly trying to get better by pushing herself to be better. She was always willing to help us out to be the best that we can be. We learned from her example, and she was always willing to sit down to talk with us if we had any questions about the position."
· Orange, Blue and Brown
Illini defender Sarah Brown was named to the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week after a solid performance for the Illini last weekend.
Brown headed home a goal in both the Illini's 2-1 victory over Purdue Friday and in Illinois' 1-1 draw against Indiana Sunday. Friday's goal served as the game-winner over the Boilermakers, while Sunday's goal helped keep the Illini's unbeaten streak at home intact.
Last weekend's goals were the first this season for Brown, who recorded her first collegiate goal in the same fashion last season in Illinois' 2-0 win over UW-Green Bay. Brown has served as the Illini's starting centerback in every game this season and has been a dominant force protecting the Illini goal.
This weekend, Brown is expected to mark her 17th start this season for the Orange and Blue.
· Illini, Big Ten in the National Rankings
The Orange and Blue were able to make a jump from last week's position at No. 24 to No. 19 in the NCSAA/Adidas Top-25 Poll along with Ohio State, who jumped from No. 16 to No. 12. Big Ten Champions Penn State are holding strong at No. 3, while Michigan tumbles from last week's No. 13 spot to unranked after suffering two disappointing losses to Oakland and Wisconsin.
In both the Soccer Buzz and Soccertimes.com polls, Illinois remains at its previous rank of No. 26 and No. 24 respectively. Penn State does the same, holding on to No. 3 across the board, while Ohio State moves up in Soccer Buzz from No. 18 to No. 15 and improves one step in Soccertimes.com from No. 18 to No. 17. Michigan remains unranked in both polls.
