Just as Illinois (6-2-0) ascended the NCAA rankings from No. 33 to No. 20 after its shutout win over Nebraska on Sunday, senior forward Jannelle Flaws is ascending the Illinois soccer record books.

With her two second half goals Sunday, Flaws not only led the Illini to their first Big Ten victory of the season, but also moved into fourth place on the Illinois soccer all-time goal scoring list. Flaws broke the tie with Jessica Bayne, who had previously held the spot since 2005.

Flaws’ career total of 32 goals now trails only Vanessa DiBernardo (43), Emily Brown (46) and Tara Hurless (47).

Assistant coach Jeff Freeman was not surprised to learn Flaws is ranked among the scoring greats in Illini history because of the endless effort she has put in to improve her game.

“Jannelle is a tireless worker,” Freeman said. “We’ve spent hundreds of hours doing extra workouts and spending time in front of the goals. That repetition that she’s gotten in the past four years really has resulted in her being this fantastic goal scorer.”

Because of knee and leg injuries, Flaws had to sit out her entire freshman and redshirt-sophomore seasons, which gave her plenty of time to practice and refine her game. She proved her work ethic with a record-setting 2013 season.

Flaws’ school-record 23 goals last season following her multiple leg injuries should have Derrick Rose fans foaming at the mouth. It shows what is possible with the right amount of rehabilitation and practice, and the correct talent.

“She’s got amazing athletic tools, a great soccer mind, and she’s also got the work ethic to go with it,” Freeman said. “So it isn’t a surprise for me that’s she’s fourth all-time and it certainly isn’t a surprise to me that she’s one of the best goal scorers in the country.”

Now with six goals in eight games this season, Flaws is on pace to take over the goal-scoring throne this season. With the right amount of assists to go along with her goals, Flaws can even surpass Hurless’ career mark of 115 total points.

Flaws has other focuses besides etching her name in the record books, however.

“I haven’t been really thinking about it,” Flaws said. “I’ve just been thinking about winning as a team, and if the goals come, they come. I’m definitely going to try to find chances, but I’m looking more for the team wins than to beat the records.”

Winning will always be top priority for the senior Flaws, but she still understands the significance of the pace she’s currently on.

“It would mean a lot,” Flaws said. “I’ve been fortunate every year to have great players next to me to make it easy for me to score those goals. That would obviously be a huge accomplishment and something that would be very humbling to have my name up there with those names. But it’s not just me who gets those goals, even if it’s my name up there, it’s a team effort.”

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