This season at home, Illinois has gone 0-3, which stands out like a sore thumb, especially knowing that it’s the inaugural season at Demirjian Park. 

“Our performances at home have been unfortunate in some ways, but I think we really want to come back and show our fans and show the community that this team is much better than the team they last saw the last time we were here at home,” said head coach Janet Rayfield.

Although only back in Champaign for one home game, the Illini are looking to repaint that home record into winning after an impressive run on the road.

“Knowing our record right now, it also gives us a little bit more of an edge right now saying we want to change this and protect our home,” said Kendra Pasquale. “So taking these big road wins and everything in non-conference and seeing that we can show up to other people’s facilities and their home turf and show out and have these big dubs kind of thing is really important for us to see that we are fully capable of winning.”

After week one of Big Ten play, Illinois finished with an unfortunate golden-goal loss to a then-No. 21 Michigan team, but looking beyond the score line, it was a positive game.

The first half was all Illinois, especially the first 15 minutes, which were the most dangerous the attack has been so far. Holding the Wolverines to no shots gave the Illini all the space to attack. 

“We had so many opportunities, and you can feel it, too,” Pasquale said. “Everyone could see it, too, but I think really taking those opportunities and seeing that we have the ability to create such magical moments. And it’s just not one player either; we have so much depth.” 

Pasquale also mentioned how attack was a collective effort from everyone. From players coming off the bench to unselfish plays, the ones on the field nearly all had some sort of involvement on the field.   

Tracking back to the net, Naomi Jackson made a significant impact on the field and has already caught the eyes of many. 

The freshman stepped into goal and put on a fantastic performance in just her third game in an Illini uniform. 

Michigan put a total of 35 shots in, out and around the box, trying to get the ball past Jackson, but she jumped high and saved down low to deny a true goal. 

Both goals were not entirely Jackson’s fault as they were some poor defending in the mix, but other than getting unlucky, her 103 minutes on the field earned an accolade.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that Jackson had earned the Big Ten co-freshman of the week award. Her 13 saves makes it an all-time high for her, but also the most saves in a game since Jaelyn Cunningham in 2017. 

Along with the accolade, Rayfield said that Jackson will be the first choice pick over Julia Cili come Thursday night’s match against Purdue.

“At this point, Naomi has shown the ability to cover ground and deal with balls in the air, and she also proved to get out at the right spot and make the saves,” Rayfield said when talking about the Michigan game. “Even the goal we gave up, she made the initial save, and I don’t think we handled all the defensive responsibilities around her. Certainly we would say she’s the goalkeeper. We’ll see at this point when we make that initial change.”  

Looking at the opponent, Purdue is on the right track coming off non-conference and the first weekend of Big Ten play. 

The Boilermakers went 5-1-2 during non-conference and are currently on a four-game unbeaten streak. 

In their first Big Ten match, the team made a statement against Nebraska in a 3-1 win. Sophomore midfielder Emily Matthews scored a hat trick to keep the offensive momentum going. Senior goalkeeper Marissa Bova also had a hand in the game, as she made some hard stops, but couldn’t keep the clean sheet. 

“Like any other Big Ten team, they’re organized, a competitive team,” Rayfield said. “They got some experience in the goal, they’ve been pretty stingy defensively … and really opportunistic on the attacking side of things.”

Demirjian Park kickoff is at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on Big Ten Network Plus. 

@AngelleCortes

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