Coming into its last regular season home game of the season at 7 p.m. tonight against St. Louis, the Illini soccer team has one thing on its mind – getting it all together for the postseason.

Lately, the Illini have outplayed their opponents in every statistic except the one that counts the most: the final score.

In last Friday’s game against Northwestern, the Illini turned out one of its best performances of the season, but could not score and came away with a tie.

“We played well against Northwestern,” said senior goalkeeper Leisha Alcia, “but we still need to work on that extra touch.”

That extra touch is getting the ball in the net. The Illini have been shut out five times this season, losing two games 1-0.

Creating opportunities has not been the problem for the Illini, who recorded 16 shots in last Friday’s game; finishing has been.

Illini senior forward Tara Hurless believes the team needs to take every scoring chance seriously, especially in practice.

“We may get six chances in practice to finish and we have to treat all of those like it’s a game situation,” Hurless said. “If we don’t take them seriously in practice, then how are we supposed to do it in the game?”

The Illini will be focused on putting the ball in the net tonight, but they know in order to do so they cannot pressure themselves.

“We are very talented,” Hurless said. “The main thing for us will be to stay confident in our abilities and just have fun and believe.”

Along with finishing on their scoring opportunities, the Illini will be focusing on keeping the same defensive intensity they had against Northwestern.

Last Friday, the defense allowed only one shot on goal.

“We have to defend well,” Alcia said. “Our team has been doing a great job of defending and we need to keep it up to be successful.”

With the level of intensity the Illini have played, they believe they can be a dangerous team in the postseason.

“For sure this team is ready for the postseason,” Hurless said. “Granted we haven’t had the best end of the season, but we have a burning desire and we’re going to be successful. This team has worked too hard to not come out on top. So there is no doubt in my mind that we are ready for the postseason.”

Members of last year’s team have the aching memory of losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten Tournament Championship.

“That is something that is always on the back of our minds when we play,” Alcia said. “We want to accomplish our goals; that’s the next step.”

The Illini are ready to take that step.

“We have every piece of the puzzle in place,” Hurless said. “We just need to prove it to ourselves (tonight) and put it all together.”