IOWA CITY – Fighting Illini soccer fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday evening, 3-1. Senior Kelly Maday netted her third goal of the season in the match, with the assist from junior Hope Breslin who recorded two shots of her own on the night. The Orange and Blue move to 7-2-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in Big Ten play. Illinois will travel to Nebraska to take on the Huskers Sunday at 1 p.m.
"We didn't play our best tonight," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "I give credit to Iowa and their ability to disrupt our rhythm. I thought we showed moments tonight where we played the type of soccer that we played against Northwestern, but it wasn't consistent and we didn't sustain that. We will get back to work and try to maintain that consistency."
The home team struck first on Thursday evening, taking a one-goal advantage in the 13th minute of play. Iowa stayed strong in its attack right from the beginning, firing five shots in the first 17 minutes of the match. Despite a solid Iowa defense, the Orange and Blue did not let up, as Maday netted the equalizer in the 25th minute of play.
Recording her third goal of the season, Maday took advantage of a through pass into the box from Breslin, sending it past the Hawkeye keeper and into the upper left corner of the net. The goal marked the first shot of the game for Illinois, but Breslin quickly followed up with a shot of her own just four minutes later.
Illinois and Iowa continued to battle throughout the first half, with the Hawkeyes adding a second goal in the 37th minute of play. Breslin worked to continue the Illini attack, firing another shot for the Orange and Blue in the 39th minute. The Hawkeyes tallied 10 shots to open the match on Thursday, allowing three from the Illini to start the game. Senior goalkeeper Jaelyn Cunningham grabbed three saves for Illinois in the first half of the match.
Illinois worked to build momentum on both sides of the field out of the halftime break. On the defensive end, the Orange and Blue held Iowa without a shot for almost 15 minutes in the second half. In that span, redshirt freshman Kendra Pasquale posted a shot for the Orange and Blue, looking to tie the game early in the period.
The two teams continued to battle throughout the midfield throughout the second half, with Pasquale adding another shot for Illinois before the final buzzer. The Illini held Iowa to just three shots in the second period, but the Hawkeyes addedd their third goal of the match in the 85th minute of play.
Illinois recorded six shots on the night and earned all three corner kicks in the match. Iowa closed play with 13 shots, putting seven of those on goal. Cunningham grabbed four shots overall.
NEXT UP
The Illini continue their road trip this weekend, heading to Nebraska on Sunday. First touch is set for 1:05 p.m. at Hibner Stadium. The game will be streamed via BTN+ and fans can follow along with live stats. UI will return to Champaign on Thursday, October 3 to host the Indiana Hoosiers in a 7 p.m. match.
FOLLOW THE ILLINI
Fans can keep up with the Fighting Illini Soccer squad on social media for an even more inside look at the program. Follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
