The anticipation was high at Demirjian Park on Sunday as Illinois soccer welcomed its strongest opponent of the season in No. 8 Northwestern. The Illini were hoping to pull off a major upset against their in-state rivals, but fell short in a match that included a plethora of goals, penalty kicks and even more penalty kicks.

“I was proud of the first half,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “I thought in the first half we really made it difficult for them. We did what we wanted to do defensively and frustrated them a little bit in their attack. The hard part is we didn’t sustain that through the second half, we lost the 50-50 battles and that allowed them to stay locked in their attacking half.”

The first half was certainly one to be proud of for the Illini, as the team showed no fear against their ranked opponents and caused quite a few scares. Illinois had a string of chances in the 11th minute, starting with junior forward Julia Eichenbaum.

A through ball from senior defender Eileen Murphy managed to slip through the Wildcat backline and find Eichenbaum, who dribbled into the box and fired off a powerful shot. The attempt was saved after lightning-quick reflexes by Northwestern’s keeper Mia Raben, who tipped the ball over the goal. The following corner kick landed in front of sophomore forward Maeve Jones, who redirected the ball towards the net before the Wildcats managed a goal-line clearance.

Eichenbaum continued to threaten Northwestern, and in the 15th minute used some fancy footwork to create space, only for the shot to find itself buried in the arms of Raben.

In the 27th minute, Eichenbaum created Illinois’ closest chance of the game. After managing to force a Northwestern turnover in the box, the forward beat the keeper only for the shot to hit the wrong side of the post. The junior was extremely unlucky not to find her name on the scoresheet on Sunday, finishing the match with a total of four shots.

The Illini’s momentum began to fade away after giving away the first penalty kick of the match in the 33rd minute. After a foul just inside the box by freshman forward Sarah Foley, Rowan Lapi stepped up for the Wildcats and converted the penalty. Illinois 0-1 Northwestern leading into the break.

Coming out of halftime, the Wildcats picked up the pace and were in control of the ball offensively during large portions of the second half. In the 57th minute, a foul in the box by Murphy gave Northwestern its second penalty kick of the game. Junior goalkeeper Julia Cili was ready, and guessed right to earn her first career penalty save.

Unfortunately for the Illini, the Wildcats scored their second goal under a minute later as Danika Austin rifled in a loose ball at the top of the box. Illinois 0-2 Northwestern.

Northwestern wasn’t slowing down and hit the crossbar in the 58th minute before striking again in the 66th minute. A well-placed cross into the Illinois box was headed home by Josie Aulicino, sinking the home side into a now three-goal deficit. Illinois 0-3 Northwestern.

Cili continued to pull off a few more big saves to keep the Wildcats from increasing the lead, but another foul in the area by the Illini led to a third penalty kick for the visitors. Aulicino would step up and convert for her second goal of the match. Illinois 0-4 Northwestern.

The Illini couldn’t reignite the fire they played with in the first half, and with Cili making a few more impressive stops to keep the deficit at four, the rivalry game concluded in Champaign. Final score: Illinois 0, Northwestern 4.

There were many moments in the first half where it truly looked as though the Illini were on the verge of pulling off their biggest upset of the season. Unfortunately, those opportunities never translated into goals and the Wildcats were able to rally in the second half, thanks in part to the penalties given away.

“I don’t think the 4-0 was indicative of how we played,” Rayfield said. “Especially when looking at the first half. We’ve got to take what we did in the first half and extend that over a 90 minute game.”

The second half performances have been very inconsistent for Illinois, in terms of Big Ten play this season. While the Illini were able to show their grit to come back against the Terrapins in the second half, fans have witnessed multiple late collapses. Illinois suffered a 3-0 defeat to Michigan State after going into halftime level, and against Northwestern the team fell 4-0 after heading into the break only down by one.

Sunday’s loss also stems from the fact that the Illini gave the Wildcats three penalty kicks, an absurd number for one game. While Cili did well to save one, the other two helped to seal Illinois’ fate.

“With fouls in the box, the referees are going to make those decisions,” Rayfield said. “The biggest thing is that we’ve got to not have that many players in that kind of situation in the box to give up those kinds of goals. When they get the ball in the box under possession that’s a tough one. We’ve got to deny the shot, so those fouls got called.”

Illinois (6-5-2 overall, 1-3-1 B1G) will be back in action next Sunday, as the team travel to West Lafayette to take on Purdue (3-8-1 overall, 0-4-1 B1G) at noon.

@james_kim15

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