CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini soccer returned to Demirjian Park for the first time since the season opener on Aug. 17 and earned their second home win of the campaign with a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Pepperdine on Senior Day.
The Orange and Blue now move to 4-2-1 on the season following the on-campus triumph. Before the match, Julia Cili, Bel Rolley, Makala Woods, Mackenzie Schuler, Zoey Kollhoff, Makena Silber, Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal, Julia Eichenbaum, Kennedy Berschel and Ashley Cathro were all honored as part of the Senior Day festivities.
It was nearly a dream start for Illinois in the fifth minute, when Woods played through Kollhoff on goal, but the St. Charles, Ill., native drove her shot straight at the keeper.
Five minutes later, the Waves opened the scoring following a corner kick to take an early 1-0 lead.
As Illinois began to build back into the game, Silber would nearly bring the contest level in the 22nd minute with a long-range curling effort from distance, but her shot was tipped over the bar.
In the 33rd minute, Sydney Stephens made a great driving run and played the ball out wide on the right to Lia Howard. Howard neatly found Woods in the penalty area, who cut a pass back for Stephens at the penalty spot, and the Waterloo, Ill., native made no mistake, sweeping her right-footed shot into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.
The two sides would eventually go into the break deadlocked, with Pepperdine holding a 10-4 advantage in shots. Cili would make five saves for Illinois in net in the opening 45.
In the 54th minute following an Illini corner kick, the ball fell to Berschel at the edge of the area, whose shot at goal struck an arm of a Wave defender, earning the hosts a penalty kick. Berschel would step up to take the spot kick, but her low shot to the Pepperdine keeper's left was saved. Sarah Foley was quickest to rebound and blasted the ball into the net to give Illinois the 2-1 lead.
As the Waves began to ramp up the pressure on the Illini, Cili made three saves in 1-on-1 situations to keep the Orange in Blue in front. The Pepperdine pressure would eventually pay off as the visitors found an equalizer in the 73rd minute, setting up a frantic finish.
Cili, the Palmetto Bay, Fla., native, was called upon in the 76th and 81st minute to make a pair of important saves to give the Illini a chance at finding a winner.
In the 88th minute, Berschel picked out Woods streaking down the right wing, who hit her cross first time to Stephens making a run at the near post. The junior beat the onrushing keeper to the ball and tucked her shot into the back of net to give Illinois the lead with just over two and a half minutes left.
The Illini defense dealt with a last-gasp Waves corner to hold on for the narrow 3-2 win.
The Fighting Illini will be back in action on Sunday, Sept. 17, as they open up Big Ten play at Iowa. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. CT.
