Not even Hollywood could have drawn up such a crazy script for the Illinois soccer team.

The Illini advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament last weekend after winning two thrilling games in the Columbia, Mo., regional. Illinois (12-8-2) beat the fourth-seeded Missouri Tigers in penalty kicks Sunday after regulation and two overtime periods ended in a 1-1 draw.

On Friday, the underdog Illini defeated the Memphis Tigers 1-0 in double overtime. Against Missouri, junior midfielder Courtney Bell drove a shot into the top left corner of the net to put the Illini ahead 4-3 in the final round of penalty kicks. Goalie Alexandra Kapicka then dove to her left and deflected the Tigers’ last shot away to send the Illini into a raucous celebration.

“The pressure was on her, she had to make it to tie it,” Kapicka said. “I thought, ‘OK, I’m not going to guess, I’m just going to react to this.’ I got my foot to it, and anything that keeps it out of the goal is all that matters.”

After just sneaking into the NCAA Tournament and defeating two favored opponents, Bell said the Illini are embracing the role of a Cinderella team.

“Teams are going to underestimate us,” Bell said.

“It puts all the pressure on the other team. We get to the point where we just have fun with it. We definitely like playing that role.”

Sunday’s win took a little longer than Illinois would have liked. Chichi Nweke scored her seventh goal of the season early in the second half to give her team a 1-0 lead. With Missouri’s offense struggling to get good looks up to that point, it appeared one goal might be all it would take. But the Tigers responded by raising the offensive intensity in the final 30 minutes and scored the equalizer on a goal by Mallory Stipetich after a series of great passes.

But luck was on the side of Illinois, which received a break in a tie game with just more than three minutes to go in regulation when Missouri’s Krista Kruse had a wide-open goal to shoot at after a wild scramble in the box.

But Kruse sent her shot from about six yards out high and over the crossbar, keeping the Illini’s hopes alive.

The exhilarating penalty kicks Sunday were not the only heroics for the Illinois on the weekend. On Friday against Memphis, sophomore forward Jordan Hilbrands scored a golden goal in the 103rd minute of play to give the Illini their first epic win of the weekend.

On the play, Hilbrands took a feed from Nweke, found space in the center of the 18-yard box and sent a low kick past a diving Memphis goalkeeper for the win.

“The whole weekend was a team effort,” Rayfield said. “You just get hit by a wave of emotion, it’s almost exhaustion. This team battled so hard, it’s just exciting for this group of kids.”

Illinois’ reward for its accomplishments last weekend is a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., where it will take on the top-seeded and 18-time National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Illini are just looking to keep the momentum from a crazy weekend going, though.

“We aren’t done playing,” Hilbrands said. “We just want to keep going for as many teams as we can. We have the heart to keep going in the tournament.”