Nov. 6, 2010

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's soccer team earned its 13th victory overall, and sixth Big Ten Conference win of the season against the Northwestern Wildcats, 1-0, on Senior Night at Illinois Soccer Stadium on Saturday. Sophomore forward Niki Read notched her second goal of the season for the game-winner while senior goalkeeper Alexandra Kapicka made four saves in net for her sixth shutout of the season.

"Sometimes you have to wear a team down to create something and, in the second half, we started to get behind them. We had [Marissa] Mykines running at them over and over again, and as a back-four defensively, that starts to wear," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "Niki [Read] got the ball and instead of going (to the) end-line, went to goal, and that took everyone by surprise, including their goalkeeper."

To earn the goal, her second game-winner of the season, Read controlled a pass from freshman Vanessa DiBernardo near the sideline. Read dribbled on net uncontested and drilled a shot into the lower-right corner, under the diving attempt from Northwestern keeper Carolyn Edwards.

"It was really good to get the goal on senior night," Read said. "I felt like I was paying the seniors back for being such good leaders."

For the contest, Illinois earned 16 shots while Northwestern tallied 15. Each team attempted six corner kicks while Northwestern committed eight fouls and Illinois was flagged for three.

To continue their 2010 season, the Orange and Blue need to be selected for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The 64-team Division I Women's Soccer Tournament Selection Announcement is scheduled to air on Monday, Nov. 8 at 3:30 p.m. Central Time on ESPNU.