Lately, the Illinois soccer team has seen the mental phase of the game become more problematic than the physical.

Despite averaging more than two goals a game and maintaining an undefeated record at home, the Illini are 2-6 this season in true road contests and have scored just four goals total in those games.

Fresh off two consecutive 1-0 road defeats last weekend, it seems as if the Illini cannot even buy a goal of late. Head coach Janet Rayfield said her team has struggled mentally at times.

“On the road, it’s visually different,” Rayfield said. “It affects a player’s confidence and comfort in front of the goal, sort of like a shooter in basketball. It’s a mental and psychological challenge (to play) in an arena you don’t train in every day.”

Illinois has one more opportunity to prove itself in a hostile environment when it travels to Indiana on Sunday in its last Big Ten road game. If there ever was a medicine to cure the Illini road sickness, it would have to be the Hoosiers.

Indiana (5-10) has lost its last six games, all in Big Ten play, and has only scored one goal in that stretch. The Hoosiers are also what Rayfield calls the “lone wolf,” meaning that because of quirky Big Ten scheduling, they must play every Sunday game against a team that did not play a game Friday. The Illini are the beneficiary this week and should be the fresher, more energized team as the game wears on.

However, the Hoosiers do possess a strong defense. Five losses during their losing skid have been by the score of 1-0. For an Illini squad struggling to score, it means players must be more efficient with their chances on goal.

Rayfield said “we must get seven or eight shots on frame” every game. Thus far, the Illini are 5-0 when they put at least seven shots on goal. Lately, though, Illinois has struggled to do that, as they have combined in their last three games to put just 12 shots on goal.

Rayfield said her team has occasionally pressed too much in attempting to score that elusive road goal.

“You have to balance getting what you want and trying too hard,” she said. “It’s a matter of us really focusing on our attack.”

The players, while obviously preferring to play at home, are pleased to have another chance to get a road win. Junior midfielder Courtney Bell said these games will help the team when they hit the road for postseason play. Goalie Alexandra Kapicka agreed.

“It’s something we have to work on,” Kapicka said. “It’s something we know we can do, so it’s good to get a second chance at it.”

With losses at Iowa and Minnesota last weekend, the Illini now sit in a tie for fifth in the Big Ten. But with a couple of upsets last weekend in the conference and three home games left, Illinois is not out of what Rayfield deemed an “interesting race.”