Sept. 26, 2008

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - The No. 17 Illinois soccer team (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten) opened the Big Ten season with a 2-1 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers (6-3-1, 0-1) on Friday night at McClimon Soccer Complex. Senior forward Jessica Levitt notched the game-winning goal and had an assist, while senior midfielder Marti Desjarlais also contributed a goal.

"You know any Big Ten game is not going to be easy, especially on the road against a team who is undefeated at home," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "In the Big Ten, the chances you get are so limited. We talked about framing the goal and those early goals were important. We knew if we could play past Wisconsin's pressure we'd have some chances, and we were able to do that."

Despite being out-cornered, 10-3, and out-shot, 11-9, a pair of first-half goals and sound defense in the second half proved to be the difference-maker for Illinois.

"If we don't score on those opportunities, the whole landscape of the game changes," Rayfield said. "The fact that we cleared out 10 corner kicks means we battled fairly well in our box, but we just didn't battle outside the box in terms of 50-50 balls. Inside our own box we battled pretty well too, which is something that we struggled with a bit early on."

The Illini took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Desjarlais tallied her third goal of the season. After Levitt picked up the ball in the midfield and drove inside the 18, she slotted the ball up to Desjarlais in the right corner where she fired it into the net from six yards out.

Illinois added a goal in the 37th minute on a second-chance opportunity. Freshman forward Marissa Mykines crossed from the right to junior midfielder Jackie Santacaterina, but Badger goalkeeper Jamie Klages dove to her right to stop Santacaterina's shot. The ball deflected off her hands to the feet of Levitt, who buried her second goal of the season to give the Illini a 1-0 advantage.

"Levitt does so much work for us defensively and her work rate is always great," Rayfield said. "It was great for her to get involved in the scoring tonight and hopefully that confidence will build as the Big Ten season goes on. She's always played a ton of minutes and done a lot of work, so to see her finish on the scoring side of thing is going to be good for her confidence."

The Badgers immediately brought pressure in the second half, cutting into Illinois' lead with a goal thirty seconds into the period. Wisconsin continued its aggression throughout the half, but the Illini defense was impressive inside the box, making a pair of saves to preserve the lead early and withstanding the Badgers' attack to seal the 2-1 win.

The roadtrip continues on Sunday as Illinois travels to Northwestern. Kickoff between the Illini and Wildcats is slated for noon. Streaming audio of the game is available at fightingillini.com