As Big Ten Tournament play begins on Thursday, the fourth-seeded Illini soccer team believes it has an edge in one area – experience.

Last season, the Illini entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and caught fire. They defeated Michigan State in the first round, Purdue in the semifinals and Michigan in the championship to clinch the title – without allowing a single goal. They became only the second team in Big Ten history to do so.

This season, the Illini returned 14 letter winners from last year’s championship run, including the tournament’s most valuable player on offense, senior forward Tara Hurless and the tournament’s most valuable player on defense, junior defender Kelly Campbell.

The Illini believe their experience will give them an edge.

“We have the experience,” said senior goalkeeper Leisha Alcia. “After winning it all last year, we know what it takes to get it done.”

After last year’s success, the team will also have the desire to get it done.

“Once we get into that atmosphere again, it will remind us of what it was like to win last year,” said junior midfielder Paula Faherty. “I think that will give us an instant edge over the other teams.”

The recipe to last year’s success was hard work and determination. The Illini feel that if they are going to win this year’s tournament, they will have to want it more than their opponents.

“From last year, we learned what it really takes is heart when it all comes down to single elimination,” Faherty said. “We have to be ready to give everything we have in order to win.”

Although the Illini won the conference crown last fall, the previous two seasons gave the Illini the experience to pull it off.

In 2002, the team’s current seniors experienced what it was like on the losing end of the championship game. In that season, the Illini made it to the final game, only to fall to Penn State 2-1 in overtime.

“Making it to the championship was dramatic that year,” Alcia said. “We upset Michigan in overtime to get there and nobody expected us to get that far. We were the underdogs and we exceeded expectations.”

In 2003, the Illini went 1-1 in the tournament, losing to Wisconsin in the semis.

In that tournament, though, the Illini came in with the No. 8 seed and knocked off top-seeded Penn State in the first round. What made that game special was the fact that the Illini came back to win from a 3-0 deficit with a score of 4-3.

If the Illini fall behind during this week’s tournament, they will have that game as a memory of what can happen.

“You can’t give up,” Alcia said. “There is always a possibility to win. Hard work was the key to that game.”

The Illini also know the same thing can happen to them if they do not focus on keeping their lead.

“In the other position, being up 3-0, you have to stay focused,” Alcia said. “That game goes to show you anything can happen any given day.”

Just as anything could happen for the Illini in previous years, they also know anything can happen for their opponents this week.

“The tournament goes so quickly, anything can happen, because there are so many good teams in our conference,” Faherty said. “It is anybody’s game.”