The Illini soccer team is looking to pick things up where it left off last season, starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday against Missouri at the Illinois Track and Soccer Stadium.

Last year, the Illini had a breakout season. They finished the year winning seven of their last nine en route to a Big Ten Tournament title.

This year, Illinois comes into play with the majority of its team intact.

The Illini return senior All-American goalkeeper Leisha Alcia, who spent her summer playing for the North American W-league. Along with Alcia, Illinois returns the majority of its midfielders and top three scorers, including senior Tara Hurless, who led the team in scoring last season.

“I’m very excited for this year,” Alcia said. “We have most of our players returning and it should be a fun season.”

Although the Illini are returning the majority of their team, they will be without defender Meghan Kolze, who graduated last spring. Last season, Kolze was not only one of the team’s best defenders but also the team’s leader.

“Because we lost (Kolze), leadership from our upperclassmen will play a big role this season,” Alcia said. “Playing this summer in the W-league, I was able to develop more of a leadership role. I look to bring that to the team.”

With Illinois returning the majority of its players, the team starts the season with high expectations, ranked No. 14 in the NSCAA/Adidas National Preseason Poll and second only to Penn State among Big Ten teams.

The Illini are not worried about the added pressure affecting their play.

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem for us,” Alcia said. “High expectations have been a good thing for this team, because it raises our level of intensity. The higher the expectations, the harder we play to meet them.”

For the Illini to meet expectations, Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield said the team will have to approach everything with the same mentality.

“Our goals on a daily basis will be to remain the same defensive team we were last year, when we were ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten,” Rayfield said. “We also want to spread the goal scoring out between three people instead of having one threat, like we had last year. If we achieve these goals, the rest will take care of itself. We’ll reach our ultimate goals of winning a Big Ten title and having success at the NCAA Tournament.”

Rayfield believes the key for Sunday afternoon’s matchup against Missouri will be to control the game from the beginning.

“Missouri is a strong, fast, athletic team,” Rayfield said. “If we end up getting into a north-south 100-mph matchup and down the field, it’ll play to their advantage. But if we are able to keep the ball and maintain our style of play, the advantage shifts in our favor.”

Last Thursday, the Illini defeated Indiana State 2-1 in an exhibition game. Senior forward Tara Hurless said if the Illini are going to be successful against Missouri, they will have to communicate better as a team.

“In our first game against Indiana State it was tough getting into the flow,” Hurless said. “Against Missouri, we are all going to have to be on the same page and communicate better as a team. It will help to be at home and have hopefully a big crowd behind us.”