Going in, it appeared to many that No. 19 USC (10-1-2, 6-0-1) would hold off Illinois (6-6-2, 2-4-1) and win the game by at least two goals as they have done in the past. The Illini have proven that they can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the Big Ten.
Although Illinois added another defeat to its record, the team showed that not all losses are equal. This time, the game was more win than loss. Illinois’ win streak broke, but there were many good moments to pull from the match, along with some room for improvement.
Good: Offensive aggression
The second half of play saw Illinois aggressively break the USC’s defense and take shots they had previously been unable to get off. A five-minute run at the 72 and 77-minute marks put Illinois back in the competition.
Fifth-year midfielder Kennedy Berschel netted her second goal in two games after not scoring since before conference play. USC graduate student goalie Laurence Gladu came out of the net to reset play in the backfield but was pressured by junior forward Sarah Foley. Gladu could not get the ball away quickly enough, giving Berschel the ball by mistake. Berschel took the opportunity of an unguarded goal and lobbed it over the defense, who could do nothing but watch it go in.
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This new aggression forced USC into mistakes absent in the previous 70 minutes.
Five minutes later, freshman midfielder/forward Lauren Seppi scored again for the Illini, making the game 3-2. She was set up in a midrange penalty by senior defender Angie Galo, who found Seppi outside the box.
Throughout gameplay, Trojan defenders flooded the box to prevent chances from inside. The Illini appropriately adapted, shifting focus to set up farther shots. This allowed them to lob it over the sea of players and catch their goalie off guard.
Head coach Janet Rayfield was impressed with her players’ ability to adapt to USC’s style of play.
“That’s what USC was giving us,” Rayfield said. “We really want our players to have the freedom to see what they are giving them and take that … We wanted to be on the front foot and create opportunities and be aggressive in the final third and I thought we did that.”
That aggression paid dividends for the team’s performance. In what was expected to be a blowout, Illinois made a comeback from 3-0 at the 70-minute mark. Prior, USC had only allowed two goals from one other Big Ten team. Here, Illinois proved that a good showing can happen against any opponent.
Bad: Couldn’t keep the foot on the pedal
The aggression that netted Illinois those two goals was noticeably missing in the opening 45 minutes and lacked early in the second half as well.
At halftime, the Illini entered the locker room down 1-0 to the Trojans and had only taken two shots. While these two shots were on target, they were neither powerful nor well-placed enough to actually appear to give Illinois a goal.
Illinois repeatedly had its runs stopped just short of the box. Then, USC defenders two-manned the ball handler, which forced a turnover. When the Illini managed to get inside the box, they held onto it for too long, which allowed the defenders to descend on them again.
Luckily for Illinois, the team adapted in the second half. They stayed farther outside the box to avoid the wall of defenders and recovered turnovers faster. This turnover recovery was crucial because it stopped USC from getting the ball to one of their forwards upfield and running it into the attacking third.
Good: Team dynamic
Despite not scoring in the opening half, Illinois established a solid passing game early on. Knowing that USC is an incredibly fast team, Illinois focused on controlling shorter passes and slowing the game down. This included sending the ball back and working between defenders. They drew in USC forwards to overcommit, which opened up their midfielders to move the ball forward.
Additionally, all Illini were critical to defending and hunting down the ball. Trojan senior forward/defender Kayla Colbert repeatedly powered down the sidelines, spreading the Illinois defense. But she could only dump it into the middle. To try to stop these runs, Rayfield shouted out freshman defender Bella Zanoni and her capable hand in doing so.
“Bella Zanoni came off the bench,” Rayfield said. “She usually plays as an outside back for us and we played her in the midfield to help give us a little bit more of a defensive pressure.”
Zanoni, senior defenders Galo and Ella Karolak and junior defender Ellen Persson put in the work to shut down Colbert’s attempts to pull them out wide and dump it in the middle. Once the Trojans got a foot on the ball, their speed and ball handling made it difficult to stop them. But the Illini put up a good fight, working together to stop shots and prevent crosses.
Bad: Giving the Trojans too much space to work the ball
The main reason for the Trojans’ win lies in the Illini’s inability to stop the aforementioned sideline runs.
Trojans, like senior forward Simone Jackson, have bursting speed. Some of them were able to dominate the midfield by sprinting past any Illini in their way. Jackson was an essential part of many USC attempts, especially in the first half. She ran into a spread midfield, aware that no Illini was near enough to stop her until she was too dangerously positioned.
USC made the same play on multiple occasions before Illinois adjusted in the second half, forcing USC into a different play style.
On Sunday, Illinois takes on similarly ranked, UCLA (11-2-2, 6-0-1). Looking ahead, Rayfield has some areas she wants her players to focus on. First, she wants them to play with the aggression they had in the second half, right out of the gate. Second, she hopes her players are less intimidated going into Sunday’s match against the Bruins.
“We’ve got to stop worrying about what the name is on the jersey we’re facing,” Rayfield said. “Think about the name on the jersey that we’re playing in and what that means about us. We played and put USC under pressure, and we can do the same against UCLA.”
