Nov. 12, 2010

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Illinois women's soccer program fell in its NCAA Tournament First Round game to the University of Southern California, 3-1, on Friday. Shayla Mutz provided the Illini with their lone goal while Alexandra Kapicka stopped five shots in net.

"Credit to the way we fought from start to finish tonight," said head coach Janet Rayfield of the Illini's performance against USC. "The difference was there were several big moments in the game offensively and defensively and we didn't come through in those moments."

Southern California opened scoring at the 30:32 mark, notching the only goal of the opening half. Ashley Freyer earned the tally on a pass from Brittany Kerridge, placing a shot by the outstretched arms of Kapicka and into the right corner of the net from the top of the Illinois box.

USC doubled its lead with 35:17 left in the second half. After Illinois was called for a foul, Ashli Sandoval used the ensuing free kick opportunity to fire a shot on net, with the ball skimming off the top-right corner of the goal before dropping in. The Trojans notched their final goal in the 76th minute as Samantha Johnson placed a shot from the top of the box into the right side-netting for the goal.

Illinois cut the deficit to 3-1 in the 80th minute. Marissa Mykines' pass found Mutz inside the USC box, with Mutz converting her team-leading fifth shot of the match at the mouth of the goal before Trojans' keeper Shelby Church could track the ball down.

The Illini continued to battle through the remainder of play but were unable to cut the deficit further. Megan Pawloski crossed the ball into the box to an uncontested Vanessa DiBernardo with four minutes remaining. Church rushed out of the net to challenge and succeeded in blocking DiBernardo's attempt with a diving save. DiBernardo rushed toward the ball to earn another attempt as it bounced off of Church; however, the Trojans' defense was able to force DiBernardo to place her second shot wide of the net.

"Whether it is the opportunities we had in the box in the beginning of the game, at the end or the save on the free kick [goal by Sandoval] - those are game-defining plays and you want the returning players to realize the opportunities they have and come with the confidence and composure to take care of those game-defining moments, Rayfield said."

On the match, Illinois was outshot by USC, 20-18, while the Trojans were called for 20 penalties to the Illini's 10. Illinois totaled four corner kick opportunities while only allowing USC to earn two. The Orange and Blue conclude the 2010 season at 13-5-1 overall and fall to 9-9-1 in nine NCAA Tournament appearances.