Illini Fall in Lone-Goal Decision to Iowa

Champaign, Ill. - Fighting Illini Soccer fell to Iowa, 1-0, on Thursday night (Oct. 15), handing the Hawkeyes their first Big Ten win of the season. The Illini move to 8-4-3 on the season and 2-3-3 in conference play, and will look to rebound against Nebraska on Sunday, Oct. 18. 

"I think tonight, when it was critical decision making time, we just didn't step up to the plate and make the right decisions and that cost us the game," head coach Janet Rayfield said of tonight's match. "We didn't make great decisions in the attacking third and we gave them too many chances off of our decision-making on defense, especially at the mid-stripe. We didn't make enough good decisions in those cirtical moments." 

The two teams went back and forth throughout the first half, battling through the midfield. The Illini had several impressive scoring opportunities, but were unable to capitalize. The Orange and Blue took eight first-half shots, while allowing the Hawkeyes just four. Illinois put three shots on goal in the half, spreading the attack out between redshirt senior Jannelle Flaws, junior Hope D'Addario and senior Nicole Breece. Freshman Katie Murray also added two shots for the Illini in the first half. 

The go-ahead goal came in the 62nd minute of play, the Hawkeyes took a shot that rebounded off the post but was deflected into the back of the net by the Illini on an attempt to clear it from the box.

Following the score, both teams picked up the intensity continuing to fight through the midfield. The Illini held Iowa to just five second-half shots, marking the fifth time this season the Illini have held an opponent to single-digit shots as the Hawkeyes finished with just nine attempts. 

The Illini found several scoring opportunities as the game was drawing to a close, but the Hawkeye defense held tough. The Illini fired six shots to Iowa's two in the last 15 minutes of play. 

"That is the kind of mentality we have to play with from the beginning," Rayfield said of the game's final minutes. "We can't wait until we're down a goal to show that kind of grit, that kind of toughness, to get those kinds of numbers forward. We should be playing that way from the beginning. That's the kind of mentality that this team needs to have and has had in games in the past. We need to find that from the beginning of the game and certainly that's what we'll look for on Sunday."

The Illini continue their three-game home stretch on Sunday, hosting Nebraska in a 2 p.m. contest. The match will air live on BTN and fans can follow along with live scoring or on Twitter by following @IlliniSoccer.