Illinois soccer (3-1-0) is in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., this weekend for a pair of matches in the annual College of Charleston Cup.

After they arrive Thursday night and get settled in, the Illini will face off against the College of Charleston Cougars (2-2-0) for just the second time ever on Friday night.

Former Illinois assistant coach Christian Michner is in his fifth season as the C of C head coach and has the Cougars playing well, as they nearly defeated previously No. 22 Boston College in a close 1-0 overtime game last weekend.

“Great opportunity and great program down there,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “(Michner) does a great job with that program down there. So we’re excited to go back and play a good team and stay there in Charleston, a nice, historic city. I’m sure the hospitality will be great and the weather will be awful, so we’re going to enjoy both of those things.”

With scattered thunderstorms in high-80s temperatures forecasted for the weekend, the humidity will certainly pose problems, but Rayfield sees it as another way to gain experience.

“We haven’t really put ourselves in that uncomfortable environment, whether that’s cold, snow and rain and water like NCAA, or heat, you never know what you’re going to face in postseason time or in our Big Ten season,” Rayfield said. “This will be certainly a little bit of a weather challenge and teams do it one way (or another) — they use it as sort of something they can use as an excuse or they embrace it as something that will challenge them and make them better, and we’re certainly going to use that.”

After a day of recovery on Saturday, the Illini will take on the UAB Blazers (2-1-0) for the first time in program history. The Blazers returned eight starters from last season’s team that went 11-7-2. They won their first two games of the season before falling 3-1 at Duke.

These will be Illinois’ last two matches before beginning Big Ten play, which comes with a lot of travelling in between games, so being able to stay in Charleston for both games this weekend could be a benefit.

“I think your sleep and your hydration are two really important things going on away trips,” senior forward Jannelle Flaws said. “It’ll be nice just to be able to stay in one hotel in one spot. It’ll definitely be easier on the bodies, so it’s going to be a little less taxing on us.”

All eyes will remain on the Illini’s defensive effort and goalkeeper platoon which has resulted in just four goals allowed so far this season. Despite the stellar play on that side of the ball, the Illini are still looking to refine their all-around play before conference matches begin.

“Going from last season, one of our biggest areas of improvement was the defensive line, so all preseason we were focusing on that and I think (last) weekend really showed,” junior defender Aliina Weykamp said. “You can see the improvement, but we’re still looking to get better.”

Joey can be reached at [email protected] and @joeyfigueroa3.