In the Illinois soccer team’s 1-1 tie with Michigan State on Friday, Jannelle Flaws, Illinois’ career goal-scoring leader, did something she hadn’t done in over a month – score a goal.

The senior drilled a last-second penalty kick after Kara Marbury was fouled in the penalty box. Flaws’ goal took the Illini (8-3-3) into overtime with the Spartans.

Before Friday’s game, Flaws’ had not found the back of the net since Illinois’ 1-0 win over Portland on Sept. 6.

Flaws has been battling chronic plantar fasciitis this season, which has noticeably affected her play. Illini head coach Janet Rayfield believes Flaws’ health is starting to improve, which resulted in her scoring Friday.

“Any great athlete can be streaky,” Rayfield said. “I think certainly with her foot feeling better her mobility is getting a little bit better day to day.”

Despite breaking the dry spell, Flaws still said she feels she still missed a lot of scoring chances this weekend and has yet to get back in a groove.

“It felt good, it was nice to get a goal,” Flaws said. “There were plenty of opportunities this weekend I probably should have put more away so I wouldn’t say I’m quite out of my rut yet, but it was nice to get one.”?More overtime for Illinois

Six members of the Illinois soccer team have eclipsed 1,000 minutes over the team’s 14 games thus far. The extra minutes have been adding up after Illinois played its third straight double overtime game against Michigan State on Friday.

Friday’s 1-1 tie with the Spartans was the team’s fourth double overtime game of the season. The Illini’s overall overtime record is 1-0-3. Every overtime match has been against a Big Ten opponent.

Ties result in one point for each team, wins result in three points to the winner. Thus, if Illinois had won its three tie games, it would have been awarded nine points instead of three. The six extra points would put the Illini in fifth place in the Big Ten standings, rather than eighth.

“(Tying) is certainly better than coming out of a game with zero points, but it’s a difference between three points and one point,” Rayfield said. “A result where you get a point is certainly better than a result where you get zero and they get three.”

Rayfield said in order for Illinois to start finishing overtime periods with wins, the team needs to play with more composure and not get caught up in the physical components of matches.

Wheatley hits season high

Goalkeeper Claire Wheatley had her work cut out for her in Friday’s match versus Michigan State.

The junior goalkeeper recorded a season-high nine saves in the Saturday’s game with the Spartans. Five of her nine saves came in the first half of play, where the Spartans had three corner-kick attempts. Michigan State rattled off 17 total shots on the night.

Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Michigan was a much different scenario. The Wolverines controlled possession for the majority of the game, taking 22 shots compared to the Illini’s seven. Wheatley managed to record six saves against Michigan, but allowed three goals.

Rayfield said allowing Michigan to control the ball for most of the game put a lot of pressure on the defense and Wheatley.

“We just never really got a hold of the game in order to get the ball out of our end,” Rayfield said. “We were defending a lot and I think that wears you down.”

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