After losing to Michigan last Sunday, the 10th-ranked Illini soccer team will be hungry to get back in the win column on Thursday when it travels up Interstate 74 to take on Illinois State.

The loss to Michigan was the first of the season for the Illini, but head coach Janet Rayfield was not worried about how the team was handling it.

“I think we were able to put the loss in perspective,” Rayfield said. “We were able to see what we did well and we saw what we are going to have to do to improve our next time out.”

Not only are the Illini looking to rebound after their first loss, but they will also be looking for bragging rights in the state.

Illinois leads the all-time series against the Redbirds with a record of 4-1-1, but the Illini have only won once in Normal, Ill., where Thursday night’s game is scheduled to be played.

“We’re pretty excited,” said senior goalkeeper Leisha Alcia. “We want to win to show them we are the best in the state. ISU is always a battle for us and we expect them to play us hard because it is an in-state rivalry and they are playing at home.”

One thing is for certain – the Redbirds will be just as excited when the Illini come to Normal.

“They’ll be fired up,” Rayfield said. “This is their first home game since the first weekend of the season. This is also a huge game for them. We know this is going to be a battle.”

Thursday, Illinois State will have nothing to lose and everything to gain, which is something the Illini are used to coming up against. In most of their games, the Illini have been the favored team.

“This is the exact situation we talked about before the season,” Rayfield said. “The better we are, the more of a target we’ll have on our chests. When we play the underdog, we have to match their emotion. We need to worry about ourselves and be the best we can be in every game. If we worry about that, we can draw the same emotion as our opponent and defeat them.”

The team took a day off Monday after playing five games in 10 days. Tuesday they went right back to work. The focus of this week’s practices was winning the balls in the midfield.

“Winning 50-50 balls is a major thing,” Rayfield said. “If we are going to be successful in the Big Ten, our frontrunners are going to have to be winning the ball. Against Big Ten opponents, that is the key to the game. I feel like we could have done a better job against Michigan.”

The Illini continued to work on their offensive attack and finishing scoring opportunities.

“We need to read each other better,” said senior forward Tara Hurless. “Instead of waiting to see what the midfielders are going to do, our forwards need to react and let the midfielders react to what we do.”