WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – [9] Illinois (13-4-2) defeated [8] Ohio State (8-4-6), 1-0, on Thursday evening in West Lafayette, Ind., at Folk Field. This is the first Big Ten Tournament win for Fighting Illini women's soccer since defeating Wisconsin in penalty kicks on Oct. 28, 2018.
"I'm incredibly proud of the resilience we showed today," said head coach Katie Hultin. "The way we were able to apply the second half adjustments was nice to see. The individual efforts on both sides of the ball were second to none. I'm really excited for the next game against Washington on Sunday!"
Izzy Lee made 11 saves in the match, including nine in the first half, to bring her up to 113 saves on the season, which is now the program record for single-season saves. She passed Steph Panozzo, who made 111 stops in 2012. Her 11 saves are also a single-match career-high, and she became the third Illini keeper in program history to have 11 in a game, tied for seventh-most in a match in school history (Julia Cili, Sept. 25, 2022, and Claire Wheatley, Nov. 16, 2013).
Additionally, Lee kept her 10th clean sheet of the season, which is now the third-most in program history for a single season, passing Alexandra Kapicka, who had nine in 2008.
Ohio State applied pressure very early with 16 shots in the first half; nine of them were on goal, though Lee answered the bell each time. Momentum started to shift early in the second half as the Illini got a couple early chances before Lia Howard forced a turnover off a Buckeye throw-in and buried the game-winner in the 55th minute. It's Howard's fourth goal and second game-winner of the season.
The Illini were outshot by the Buckeyes, 22-10, and 11-4 in shots on goal, but the Illini boast a great record when they get outshot by their opponent as they improved to 9-3-1 in such matches. Hultin is now the third head coach in program history to win a Big Ten Tournament match in her debut season.
UP NEXT
The Orange and Blue are back in action on Sunday (Nov. 2) for the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal round against [1] Washington. Kickoff is slated for 11:30 a.m. CT.
