CHICAGO – Illinois soccer (1-0-0) begins the 2025 season and Katie Hultin era with a 1-0 win over UIC (0-1-0) on Thursday night at Flames Field.
"I'm incredibly proud of the team and the progress we've made over the past two weeks," said Hultin. "We've seen growth every single day and it's nice to start the season off with a W. It was nice to see a goal from Cayla Jackson who's probably had 15 shots in the last two exhibitions, it's starting to fall and things are starting to click. I think we still have a lot of work to do but I'm proud of the start and it's a great way to set the tone for the season."
Illinois wasted no time netting the first goal of the 2025 campaign when Sydney Stephens found Cayla Jackson at the top of the penalty area. Jackson spun off her defender creating enough space to get a clean shot off that was stapled to the bottom left corner of the goal in the third minute which ultimately was the lone score of the game.
Izzy Lee made four saves and posted her first clean sheet of the season. In the 25th minute a Flames forward got a clean left foot shot off that Lee denied on the dive. Nearly 20 minutes later she denied a UIC header off a set piece that was headed for the top of the net, but she rose up to claim the ball. Her best save of the day came in the 60th minute where UIC's pressure was at a maximum. She met the rushing UIC attacker in the penalty area at the ball to extinguish the Flames offense.
Lauren Seppi was on high alert barely a minute later as Lee was beat on a shot from UIC and the ball was heading for the net; Seppi ran in and deflected it off the line to keep the one-goal advantage for the Orange and Blue.
Emma Yee had a couple of solid chances in the back half of the game with her best in the 74th minute where she intercepted a Flames pass at midfield and out-ran their defense but could not beat the keeper on her shot. Finally, in the 86th minute, Lia Howard again found Yee in the penalty area where she attempted to go low from the right side, but it was again denied by the UIC keeper.
Illinois returns to action on Sunday (Aug. 17) for the back half of its road trip when they face Bowling Green. Kickoff is scheduled for noon CT at Cochrane field.
