Oct. 30, 2006

After the conclusion of the Big Ten regular season on Friday, the conference office announced final attendance figures that showed Illinois averaged 1,056 fans per Big Ten home match, the most in the conference. The Illini edged Ohio State, which ended up with an average of 1,012 fans per conference home match, winning the Big Ten attendance title for the first time in school history. In all matches, Illinois averaged 908 fans per match, second to OSU's 1,075 average.

The numbers show the success of the season's campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Illinois Soccer. Two times this season crowds registered on the top five single-game attendance record list, against Syracuse and Penn State. The 935 fans that took in the Syracuse match on Sept. 8 were the third-most in school history until a whopping 2,667 fans broke the school attendance record and watched the Illini come from behind to upset Penn State, 3-2.

"What a great statement this makes about the Champaign-Urbana community, the University of Illinois students and our soccer fans," Illinois coach Janet Rayfield said. "Our home atmosphere was tremendous this year and was a big reason we went 5-0 against ranked teams at Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium. Our marketing department, Illini Pride, and the Champaign-Urbana community all deserve a huge thanks from the soccer program."

While the home season is finished, second-seeded Illinois begins action in the Big Ten Tournament Thursday against seventh-seeded Wisconsin in State College, Pa. The Illini play in the second quarterfinal match of the day at 12:30 p.m. (CT).

Big Ten Attendance Figures

			Big Ten Avg.	Overall Avg.
1. Illinois		1,056		908
2. Ohio State		1,012		1,075
3. Minnesota		880		807
4. Penn State		740		874
5. Michigan		622		470
6. Indiana		452		418
7. Wisconsin		406		421
8. Michigan State	285		251
9. Purdue		269		312
10. Northwestern	263		200
11. Iowa		238		225