Illini to face Florida in NCAA tournament

By Majesh Abraham

Three days ago, the Illini were afraid they might not be in the NCAA tournament.

Now, after the tension of being seeded in the last bracket announced, the team is in Gainesville to take on No. 20 Florida on Friday at 4:00 p.m.

“We were all relieved and excited at the same time, especially because we were in the last bracket listed,” said senior defender Christen Karniski. “Our nerves were so high at that point and to see our name up there was a great feeling.”

The Illini were coming off a loss against Michigan in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament after a promising opening round win over Minnesota.

“It was disappointing not to win against Michigan,” said head coach Janet Rayfield. “But the way we played soccer, both Friday and Sunday was not disappointing at all.”

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Another victory would have put them in certain position to qualify for the NCAA’s, but the loss left some doubt if they would make the tournament at all.

“I knew our record would ensure that we would have to travel somewhere,” Rayfield said. “We thought it would be in the Midwest, but there are a lot of good teams in the Midwest. This will be exciting for us. One way or another, it’s going to be a great experience.”

The Gators have won seven of their last nine games and are outscoring opponents 20-6 in that span. Over the whole season, the Gators have a wide discrepancy over their opponents in shots (271-158) and corner kicks (107-58).

“You’ll see a team that’s somewhat similar to us,” Rayfield said, “in that they’ve outshot a lot of opponents, but haven’t had necessarily the goals to match their stats. They’re physical and athletic, and it’s going to be a great game.”

It will be a tougher road for the Illini to try to repeat their success from last year, when they advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

The bracket is loaded with tough potential opponents, including powerhouse No. 2 North Carolina and No. 4 UCLA.

If the Illini beat the Gators, they will face the winner of Florida Atlantic and No.11 Florida State.

The Illini’s strength, its defense, will try to lead the way and hope the offense can capitalize off the defense’s play.

The defense is led by Karniski, the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the year, the Illini career leader in games started (87). After today’s game, she will be tied for the career record in games played (88).

“The award was a complete surprise for me, and I wasn’t expecting it,” Karniski said. “I think by me receiving this award shows how good this team really is.”

One game behind her in both categories is senior defender Kelly Campbell.

The two seniors are joined by Big Ten All-Freshmen team member Emily Zurrer, and sophomore M.T. McDonnell, in what makes up a formidable defensive unit.

“Everyone has to play their best and to their full potential,” Karniski said. “We have to put all the pieces together and put in some good effort and hopefully that will result in a lot of goals and lots of scoring opportunities.”

The Illini will also be relying on their experience on offense, in the form of forward Natasha Karniski and junior forwards Jessica Bayne and Eva Strickland.

Bayne was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team, after scoring the game-winning goal against Minnesota and assisting on one against Michigan.

The trio combined for 18 goals, 51 points and five-game winning goals on the season. They will have to step up their production to another level in the tournament.

“We’ve got to weather the home-field advantage,” Rayfield said. “We have to convert the chances that we create and rely on our organization both defensively and offensively to combat their athleticism and their home field advantage.”

This is the first time the Illini have ever faced a team from Florida, and only their third match-up against an SEC team. The team is 2-2-0 on the road in the NCAA tournament and will be looking to improve that record today.

“We’ve got to continue believing that the soccer we’re playing is going to produce the results that we want to produce,” Rayfield said. “Now is the time for us to do that. It’s one game and out. But we’re confident in the soccer that we’re playing and that soccer is enough for as far as we’d like to go, and good enough to get us past this weekend, and deeper into the NCAA tournament.”