In its first weekend of Big Ten play, Illinois (6-2-0) experienced both sides of a shutout performance. They lost 2-0 at Iowa (7-1-0) on Thursday before bouncing back for a 3-0 win on Sunday at Nebraska (4-3-1).

After allowing just two total goals during their five-game winning streak heading into Thursday’s match, the Illini gave up two second-half goals to the Hawkeyes. Despite outshooting Iowa 11-9, Iowa goalkeeper Hannah Clark made four saves en route to the shutout.

“To be successful in the Big Ten, you have to perform at your best,” head coach Janet Rayfield said after the loss on Thursday. “They fought extremely hard, and their senior leaders performed and made a difference in the outcome. I have to do a better job preparing us to play, and our key players have to raise the level of their performance in order to win the tight battles in the Big Ten.”

Before their loss to Iowa, the Illini had been the first to score in every match this season and hadn’t trailed in total shots on goal since the second game of the season.

It was another close game against Nebraska on Sunday, and after nearly three halves of scoreless play, sophomore midfielder Allison Stucky netted Illinois’ first goal of 2014 Big Ten play with five minutes left in the first half. The goal was Stucky’s third of the season.

“We knew one was coming and we knew that we were playing well,” senior forward Jannelle Flaws said. “To go into halftime with the lead definitely encouraged us to keep playing that way and that we were going to win if we kept doing what we were doing well.”

Flaws continued the goal scoring in the second half, as she netted two goals in the final 20 minutes of the match to give the Illini a 3-0 lead. The defense did the rest, and Illinois came away with its fourth shutout victory of the season.

The Illinois defense seems to only be improving. It has limited five straight opponents to single-digit shot attempts and has allowed no more than three goals in a single match so far this season. Illinois’ four shutouts this season are already more than all of last season.

“We’re absolutely still improving,” assistant coach Jeff Freeman said. 

“Our team defending from top to bottom was as good as it’s going get (on Sunday). And specifically, our back four were really on the same page today, and I don’t think that had been the case in all our games leading up to this. So, certainly we still have some work to do, but our commitment to defending as a team has been great and that has been proven by the number of shutouts we’ve had.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Claire Wheatley started both games and had three saves against each opponent. After splitting time at goalie with sophomore Michelle Denley earlier in the season, Wheatley has earned the starting spot for the rest of Big Ten play.

“Claire’s been consistent for us,” Freeman said. “She’s healthy again, and as it is right now, it’s certainly her spot.”

The defense has been more consistent than the offense thus far for the Illini, so it should look to keep the same attacking mentality it had against Nebraska moving forward in Big Ten play.

“I think we knew that together as a whole, we’re a great offensive unit and we just didn’t show that on Thursday,” Flaws said. “So it was big for us to just go out and play like we can and attack teams like we can, and that’s exactly what we did.”

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