Two weeks ago, the Illini came home after struggling through its first two games of the season. The home cooking must have made the difference, as the Illini have looked like a changed team.

The team returns to the Illinois Soccer Stadium riding a five game undefeated streak after posting a successful weekend on the West coast. The Illini had a win in their sights over No. 23 Stanford on Friday, but a 90th minute goal allowed the Cardinal to grab a 1-1 tie. The team rebounded with a 2-O win over San Francisco to improve their record to 3-0-2 during the unbeaten streak.

“I would definitely consider it as a good trip for us,” said head coach Janet Rayfield. “It was 39 seconds away from being a great weekend. The key was our consistency, we played 200 minutes of very good soccer.”

The Illini have been unbeatable at home lately, with an astounding record of 9-0-1 since the beginning of the 2004 season. The team looks to continue its domination at home against Illinois State tonight and Indiana State on Sunday.

“Playing at home is awesome,” said junior forward Eva Strickland. “You have your own fans out there, you have fans behind the goal, and you’re playing in home whites. There’s nothing more you could ask for, it is just awesome.”

Illinois State comes in with a 3-1-1 record, having allowed only six goals all season.

This is a grudge match of sorts, after the Redbirds defeated the Illini 1-0 last year in Normal, Il. The Illini lead the all-time series 4-2-1.

“We’re looking forward to facing these guys again,” Strickland said. “The loss last year was horrible. It’s going to be totally different this year, we’re going to go out there and look to get even.”

Indiana State comes in limping at 2-4, but did manage to split their last weekend at home with a 1-0 loss to Butler, and a 3-1 victory over Indiana-Purdue at Indianapolis. This is the first time the Illini have faced the Sycamores.

For Illinois, it has been the stellar play of the defense and goalkeeper Lindsey Carstens that has carried them through this streak. Carstens notched her fourth shutout of the season against San Francisco, which places her in a tie for first place in shutouts in the Big Ten. The team leads the Big Ten in fewest goals allowed (2) and shutouts (4).

“It feels great for the team to have four shutouts, and it’s a team effort,” Carstens said. “Kelly Campbell leads us out there, but since I can see the whole field, I also have to lead from the back. They make it easier on me because I don’t face that many shots.”

The offense is slowly finding its groove, scoring in the last four games after being shutout in the first two. Last weekend, it was Strickland who took the reigns, scoring a goal against Stanford and San Francisco. She is tied with seniors Natasha Karniski and Laura Redmond for the team lead in goals at two. Junior Jessica Bayne has helped out with three assists, and she is now second in the Big Ten in assists.

“Eva has been playing well all year long, and with a couple of goals under her belt, she’s going to find her confidence in finishing, as well as doing all the other things she does, ” Rayfield said. “Redmond had a great weekend, she’s having a great week of practice, and she’s striking the ball real well right now. Other people are going to step up also, you’ll see a wide variety of people scoring goals for us, and the number of goals that we score increase.”

The Illini have also climbed back into the rankings, after being knocked out after their opening week loss. They are ranked 26th in the Soccer Buzz, and 19th in the Soccer Times.

The team looks to continue its climb back up the rankings, and continue it’s undefeated streak tonight at 7:00 against the Redbirds.

“I expect it to be great competition, because we are their game of the season,” Rayfield said. “We’re going to be Goliath, we don’t look at ourselves that way, but that is the way these teams will look at us, and their going to look to come in and take us out.”