Skip To Main Content

University of Illinois Athletics

2023 Soccer Roster

Jenny Butler / Illinois Athletics

20 Makena Silber

  • Height 5-7
  • Class Graduate Student
  • Hometown Crystal Lake, Ill.
  • High School Prairie Ridge
  • Instagram maksilber20
  • Twitter makktruck

Biography

NIL Opportunities

Career highlights

  • 2020 Third Team All-Big Ten
  • 2020 United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-North Region
  • 2018 Big Ten All-Freshman Team

Graduate Student 2023

  • Appeared in 16 matches, making seven starts.
  • Scored two goals and tallied one assist on the season.
  • Her 21 career goals rank tied for eighth-most all-time in program history.
  • Scored the first goal of the season in the Illini's series opener on Aug. 17 vs. Loyola, her first match in 663 days.
  • Picked up her assist on Aug. 31 at Louisville.
  • Scored her second goal of the season on Sept. 17 at Iowa.

Redshirt Senior 2022

  • Did not make an appearance due to injury.

Senior 2021

  • Started all 17 games for the Illini.
  • Recorded five goals and two assists on the season.
  • Fired 36 shots, 19 on target.
  • Teamed up with Kendra Pasquale to score fastest pair of goals in Illinois history, scoring just 22 seconds apart from each other at Missouri 8/19/21.

Junior - 2020

  • Third Team All-B1G
  • United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-North Region
  • Started all 12 games for the Illini this season.
  • Led team in shots (27) and shots on goal (16).
  • Netted three goals, all game-winners.

Sophomore - 2019

  • Started all 18 matches for the Illini
  • Tied for the team lead with six goals and ranked third with 14 points
  • Led the team in shots (61) and shots on goal (29)
  • Tallied two game-winning goals, including in the season opener vs. Loyola Chicago (Aug. 22) and in the inaugural game at Demirjian Park vs. Colorado College (Sept. 15)
  • Her two goals vs. Colorado College marked a career-best, and her four points vs. the Tigers tied for the team's best on the season
  • Recorded goals in wins at Illinois State (Sept. 8) and vs. Michigan State (Oct. 13), posted a goal and an assist in a loss at Maryland (Oct. 6)
  • Her seven shots vs. Illinois State and Maryland marked a career-high
  • Recorded an assist in the Illini's season-closing win vs. Minnesota (Oct. 27)
  • Played 90-plus minutes in four matches.  

Freshman - 2018

  • Played in all 20 of Illinois' matches, earning 17 starts
  • Led the Illini with her 46 shots on the season
  • Scored five goals on the year, including the game-winning goal against SIUE (Sept. 2), which she netted 33 seconds into the match
  • Put a season-best three shots on goal in three separate matches, Northern Illinois (Aug. 26), Illinois State (Sept. 9), Indiana (Oct. 14)
  • Was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on August 21 after scoring her first-career goal at No. 3 Duke (Aug. 19)

High School

  • NSCAA All-State honoree
  • IHSA All-State and All-Conference honoree
  • Three-time District 10 First Team Erie Times News honoree
  • Two-time US Youth Soccer National Championship Best 11
  • ODP Interregional National Camp attendee
  • Three-time ODP State Team member
  • Two-time ODP Regional Team member
  • Helped her high school to a State Championship in her sophomore season

Personal

  • Daughter of Chad and Jennifer Silber
  • Born December 5, 1999
  • Has one sibling, Gabe
  • Father, Chad, played collegiate football
  • Lists traveling as one of her favorite hobbies
  • Enrolled early at the University of Illinois

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.

Historical Player Information

  • 20

    2018Freshman

    F
    5'7"
    20
  • 20

    2019Sophomore

    F
    5'7"
    20
  • 20

    2020Junior

    F
    5'7"
    20
  • 20

    2021Senior

    F
    5'7"
    20
  • 20

    2022Redshirt Senior

    F
    5'7"
    20
  • 20

    2023Graduate Student

    F
    5'7"
    20