It was a tale of two halves for the Illini soccer team in Friday’s loss to No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

The Illini came out flat, allowing the top-seeded Nittany Lions to gain a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Illini came out with more intensity and tied the game at two apiece, only to let it slip away in the game’s final minutes.

Coming into Friday’s game, one of the Illini’s concerns was Penn State’s leading scorer Tiffany Weimer. Weimer is considered one of the best players in the country, and rightfully so – she got the scoring attack started on a feed from Aubrey Aden-Buie. Then, from about 10 yards out, she was able to put the ball in the net, giving Penn State the early lead.

Weimer would strike again prior to halftime. She was able to get inside the box and fire the ball by senior goalkeeper Leisha Alcia, putting the Nittany Lions up 2-0.

“We did not come out the way we wanted to in that first half,” said head coach Janet Rayfield. “We played a little tentative.”

The second half was a different story. Down two goals, the Illini received a golden opportunity and capitalized. Freshman forward Ella Masar was fouled inside the box, setting up a corner kick for the Illini; sophomore defender Sarah Brown was able to convert, scoring her fourth goal of the fall.

The goal would also mark the first time since Sept. 26 that Penn State would allow a goal, breaking a 10-game shutout streak.

That sparked the Illini. Senior forward Tara Hurless was able to get by the Penn State defense and midfielder Paula Faherty found Hurless for the score, tying the game at two apiece.

“In that second half we were able to go and play our game,” Rayfield said. “We played right there with them and came out more aggressive. Even though it was disappointing to give up that third goal, that second half was a good sign.”

It was the Nittany Lions who would get the final say. On a corner kick, Penn State served the ball into a crowd of players and Weimer was able to find Stephanie Pezzullo for the game-winner with 15 minutes remaining in the game.

Rayfield said that although the final score was disappointing, the Illini can take a lot of positives from Friday’s game.

“We didn’t start the game with that same confidence that we played with in the second half,” Rayfield said. “If we play that first half with the same confidence we had in the second half, the outcome might have been different. Although the game was disappointing from an outcome standpoint, there were a lot of positives that came out of it.”

One positive sign for the Illini was their offense. The offense has had its troubles over the season, but it was able to score two goals on Penn State, who had not allowed a goal since September.

“Our scoring attack continues to get better and better,” Rayfield said. “To score seven goals in seven games, it shows that we are doing a better job.”

The Illini knew coming into the game that they would have to stop Weimer if they were going to be successful, but they failed to do so.

“(Penn State) has scored five goals against us this season, and (Weimer) has scored four of them,” Rayfield said. “In Friday’s game, we didn’t do a good job of paying attention to her in the in-between situations of the game. She scored when we had the ball and gave it away and on that corner kick to win the game, we lost track of where she was and she was able to get the ball to her teammate. We needed to be more aware of where she was at all times.”

In Friday’s second half, the Illini were able to see how good they can be if they put it all together.

“The lesson of this game is that we need to come out and play,” Rayfield said. “We are a team that likes the underdog role. Even though we weren’t necessarily expected to win on Friday, there were some big expectations for this team and we need to deal with those expectations better. I think that made us a little nervous in that first half.”

The Illini move to 13-5-2 on the season and will await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, which will be announced at 3:30 p.m. today.