Oct. 12, 2005
Illinois Week Eight Notes in PDF Format
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Illinois finally returns home to Illinois Soccer Stadium after back-to-back weekends on the road. The Illini host Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday and Michigan State at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Wolverines lead the all-time series 7-3-1, but all of Illinois' wins have come since 2001. The Illini lead the series against MSU 7-3-0, have won six of the last seven matches and have not allowed a goal to the Spartans in the last three games.
• Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan enters the weekend 6-5-2 overall, 2-3-0 in the Big Ten, and losers of three of its last four matches. After defeating Ohio State 4-2 to open Big Ten play, the Wolverines have struggled, losing at Indiana and at Purdue and dropping a 2-1 match to Wisconsin at home. Michigan defeated Northwestern 3-2 at home last weekend. Former Big Ten Player of the Week Melissa Dobbyn leads the Wolverine attack with 22 points (eight goals, six assists) and Therese Heaton is the other Michigan player with double-digit points (17 points - seven goals, three assists).
• Scouting the Spartans
Michigan State brings an 8-3-3, 4-1-0 record into Champaign, currently sitting third in the Big Ten. Reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Emma Harris leads the Spartans with 10 season goals and 21 points, including four goals last weekend - two in each game. MSU's three wins are over the same three teams Illinois defeated - Ohio State, Northwestern and Wisconsin - but the Spartans fell to Purdue, 5-1. Despite an inauspicious start to the season, MSU recovered by stringing together a five-game unbeaten streak during which it beat Texas A&M 1-0 in overtime and tied Texas 0-0.
Looking Back
Illinois struggled on the road last weekend, dropping a 3-1 decision at No. 2 Penn State and a 2-1 loss at Minnesota. The Illini gave up two first-half goals to Penn State, but began to claw back with a goal by Jessica Bayne in the 67th minute. Christen Karniski served a long ball off a restart, Eva Strickland flicked it forward with a header and Bayne scored far post underneath PSU keeper Erin McLeod to bring Illinois within 2-1. The Illini nearly tied the game when Ella Masar's shot nearly rolled in after McLeod deflected it, but the ball died in a muddy spot in front of the goal mouth. The Nittany Lions added a late goal when Illinois pushed numbers forward for the final 3-1 margin.
The Illini struggled at Minnesota on Sunday, failing to put the Golden Gophers away after Natasha Karniski scored in the game's third minute. Karniski beat keeper Molly Schneider to the ball then scored from five yards out off a pass from Laura Redmond to put Illinois up 1-0. That lead held until halftime, but Minnesota scored in the 47th minute and again in the 52nd minute to take a 2-1 lead and hold on to win by that same margin.
Series History
Michigan is the only Big Ten team besides Penn State to hold an advantage over Illinois in the teams' all-time series. The Wolverines are 7-3-1 against Illinois, but Illinois is 3-2-1 since 2001. Two of those wins have come in Big Ten Tournament action, as Michigan also leads the series in Champaign 2-1-1. Illinois leads the series with the Spartans by a 7-3-0 margin. The Illini have won the last three matches and six of the last seven from MSU. Illinois is 5-1-0 all-time against the Spartans in Champaign.
Once, Twice, Three...Shoot
Following a slow start to the season, Illinois' offense has picked up the scoring punch, mostly because of its increased number of shots and shots on goal. In the last seven games, the Illini have averaged 20.3 shots per game and 8.9 shots on goal. That compares to 13.8 shots and 5.3 on frame in the first six games of the season.
Catch Them If You Can
Throught the season, Illinois has been hard to beat when it gets an early lead. The Illini are 5-1-0 when leading at halftime and 6-1-1 when scoring first, with the loss in each category coming Oct. 9 at Minnesota. Besides the Gophers, only Stanford and Wisconsin have been able to catch Illinois after it grabbed a lead, as the Cardinal tied the Illini 1-1 in the City by the Bay Classic and the Badgers forced overtime before falling 3-2 to Illinois.
They're Gonna Do One More
Showing the parity in the Big Ten, five of Illinois' last six games and seven games this season have been decided by only one goal. The Illini hold a 4-3 record in those games this season.
Overtime is the Right Time
After its win at Ohio State in double-overtime, Illinois improved its record in overtime matches to 2-0-2 on the season. The Illini also have a two-game winning streak in overtime matches following ties at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and against Stanford earlier in the season.
Struck by Strickland
Until being held scoreless at Minnesota, junior forward Eva Strickland had tallied at least one point in each of Illinois' last eight games. She has also been efficient in the box, putting 35 percent of her shots on frame and scoring on three of her 10 shots on goal this season. During her streak, Strickland scored three goals and dished six assists, including the game-winning goal at San Francisco on Sept. 11. She has more than doubled her career point production in her first two seasons, when she totaled 10 points on one goal and eight assists, currently tied for the team lead with 12 points. Through 13 games, she has already eclipsed her previous career high for shots in a season with 29.
Major Bayne
After starting the season slowly, junior Jessica Bayne has picked up her scoring, tallying nine of her team-leading 12 points in the last six games. Bayne had a breakout weekend against No. 16 Wisconsin and Northwestern scoring three goals, including the game-winner against the Wildcats.
Illini Stats Stack Up
Illinois continues to fall near the top of the Big Ten statistically, as the Illini now rank second in shots, fourth in goals allowed and fourth in shutouts in all games. They also lead the league in corner kicks with 84. Eva Strickland is second in all games with six assists and Lindsey Carstens is third with four shutouts. In conference games only, the Illini rank third in shots, third in assists, fourth in goals and fourth in points. Bayne is fourth in the league with 22 shots and fifth with eight points in conference games. Bayne is fourth with four goals in league play, while Strickland leads the league in assists (4) and ranks ninth in points with six.
Rookies, Rookies Everywhere
For multiple reasons, Illinois has asked a lot of its freshman, and they have come through repeatedly. Defender Emily Zurrer already has two game-winning goals to her credit, knocking in the golden goal against Wisconsin and the game-winner versus Illinois State. Forward Charlotte Cooke scored her career goal in the 109th minute at Ohio State and midfielder Marti Desjarlais has scored twice while logging the most minutes of any Illini midfielder (943), 76 percent of the minutes Illinois has played this season.
More than One is Just More Fun
Jessica Bayne became the third Illini this season to score multiple goals in a weekend and the first to score twice in the same game in the first weekend of Big Ten play. Bayne scored in the 5th and 15th minutes against No. 16 Wisconsin and in the 48th minute vs. Northwestern. With her two goals at the City by the Bay Classic, junior forward Eva Strickland became the second Illini forward in as many weeks to score a pair of goals in a weekend. One week after Natasha Karniski scored once in each game against Nebraska and Western Illinois, Strickland pushed across a pair of goals versus Stanford and San Francisco. The goals were Strickland's first tallies since Oct. 24, 2003, and the score against USF was her first career game-winning goal.
Quick-Strike Illini
Illinois has showed an early spark in games in three of the last four weekends. At Minnesota, Natasha Karniski scored at the 2:51 mark, the fastest goal to start a game for the Illini this season. Two weeks prior, Illinois opened each game with a goal in the first 10 minutes. Natasha Karniski converted a long serve from Kelly Campbell and a pass from Eva Strickland at the 9:05 mark of the Northwestern match, and Jessica Bayne punched in a goal at 4:32 against Wisconsin. Against Illinois State, the Illini scored two goals in only 44 seconds, the eighth-shortest time between goals in school history.
