With two Big Ten opponents traveling to Champaign this weekend, the Illini soccer team will be all about taking care of business.

On Friday, the Illini are scheduled to host Minnesota at 7 p.m., and, on Sunday, they host Iowa at noon at the Illinois Track and Soccer Field.

Coming into this weekend, the Illini have dropped out of the top 25 in the NCSAA/Adidas poll after being ranked No. 10, due to their 1-0 loss to unranked Illinois State last Thursday.

Although the Illini do not like to focus on rankings, they are going to use this week’s rankings as motivation.

“I think it will motivate us this weekend for sure,” said junior defender Natasha Karniski. “We try not to focus on the rankings because we know how good we are, but we have a lot of pride and we want the target to be on us.”

If the Illini are going to win the Big Ten regular season title, it will be imperative to capitalize on the opportunity this weekend. The Illini have a record of 2-1 in the conference thus far, and are hosting two of the lesser teams, so they have a good opportunity to start 4-1 in conference play.

“Any time you are at home against a Big Ten opponent, you’ve got to take care of business,” said Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield. “The reason is, winning on the road in the Big Ten is a tough thing to do, so when you get the chance to play at home, you’ve got to be able to come away with a win.”

Minnesota enters Friday’s game with a record of 0-4 in the Big Ten and 3-6 overall. The Gophers are in their first season with head coach Mikki Denney-Wright and are in the process of rebuilding their program.

Forward Kaitlin Neary leads the way for the Gophers with two goals and one assist on the season. Goalkeeper Molly Schneider has recorded five shutouts.

Similar to Minnesota, Iowa is looking for its first win in the conference and is in the midst of rebuilding its program as well.

Even though both teams are off to bad starts, both have recorded their fair share of 1-0 losses and shown they can hang in there with good teams.

“Both these teams are stingy defensively,” Rayfield said. “Neither team gives up a lot of goals. What we will need to do is break down their defensive wall by moving the ball around. If we move the ball around effectively, they’ll have to adjust and we’ll create lots of scoring opportunities.”

Although Minnesota and Iowa are towards the bottom of the Big Ten in the standings, the Illini learned their lesson last Thursday that they cannot take any opponent too lightly.

“We remember how much it hurt to lose to Illinois State in that game,” Karniski said. “We learned we are going to have to play hard for 90 minutes in every game because we do not want that to happen again.”

Most importantly, the Illini will be hoping to continue their success from last Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Wisconsin.

“We developed a great rhythm in the Wisconsin game,” Rayfield said. “When we get into a rhythm, it allows us to play more relaxed. Then the rest of the things fall into place.”