COLUMBIA, Mo. – Illinois soccer opened their 25th season of competition Thursday night with a 4-0 victory over the Missouri Tigers. Freshman Abby Lynch got the scoring started for the Orange and Blue, and redshirt junior Kendra Pasquale, redshirt senior Hope Breslin, and freshman Maeve Jones added goals in Illinois' season-opening victory. Illinois dominated the offensive side of the match, leading in goals (4-0), shots (15-7), shots on goal (7-4), and corner kicks (9-4).
Seven Illini made their debuts Thursday night (freshmen Maddie Mariani, Abby Lynch, Sydney Stephens, Maeve Jones, Angie Galo, and sophomores Julia Cili and Mackenzie Schuler).
The Illini started the first half strong, pressuring the Tigers and keeping the ball in the Mizzou half of the pitch for the majority of the half. The Orange and Blue got on the board in the 31st minute when Lynch put away a Sydney Stephen's through ball to put the Illini up 1-0. Although the Illini created several more quality scoring opportunities they would enter half-time with the 1-0 lead.
Illinois wasted no time adding to that score in the second half.  Pasquale stripped the ball from Missouri defender and scored eight minutes into the second period, firing her shot into the bottom right of the goal.   Just 22 seconds later, which breaks the Illini record for shortest time between goals, Makena Silber played a cross field pass that found Breslin on the left side of the goal and after beating a defender in the box Breslin slotted the ball past the Missouri keeper for the 3-0 lead. Two freshmen teamed up for the final Illini score as freshman Maeve Jones received a great pass from freshmen teammate Angie Galo and scored her first collegiate goal in the 78th minute extending the Illini lead to 4-0.
Coach Rayfield said post game,  "We maintained our energy for 90 minutes tonight and I was proud of our defensive discipline throughout the match. Offensively I thought we created a lot of problems for Missouri to deal with and we were  dynamic, confident, and unselfish in the box.  It's a great start but there's so much more growth for this team. We made some great improvements from our pre-season games to tonight and we must continue that journey. Keep getting better every day. Starting tomorrow!"
UP NEXT
The Orange and Blue travel one hour north to Normal, Ill. to take on the Illinois State Redbirds on Sunday, Aug. 22. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 PM CT and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
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