Following a hard-fought win against Mercer in Georgia on Sunday, Illinois (4-2-1, 0-0-0) returns to Champaign to begin its Big Ten competition season. Conference play begins with a game against the unbeaten Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-0-1, 0-0-0) on Thursday. This is the best start to a season Minnesota has had since 2013, when the team went 6-0-0. Now, the opponents are looking to continue their streak against the home team.

The last time Illinois saw Minnesota was last season, when the Gophers bested the Illini 3-1 at the Gopher’s home stadium. Graduate student midfielder/forward Sophia Romine put two of those points on the board that night for the Gophers. Despite the Illini scoring first, they were unable to pull off a win one year ago. This instance only illustrates one of the 29 games these two teams have competed in. The Illini still have a 13-11-5 all-time record against the Gophers. 

The Gophers won their first five games of the season before having their first draw on Sept. 5 against Brown. Coming into this Thursday’s game with such an intimidating record, Minnesota backs up its success as they have a high-scoring team of attackers. Senior forward Khyah Harper (8), Romine (3) and redshirt freshman forward Caroline Birdsell (2) may pose a threat to the Illini. 

Harper is a player that Illinois’ defense will have to work overtime to shut out. Harper was named co-offensive Big Ten Player of the Week after she scored her first career hat-trick against St. Thomas. She followed up this performance four days later against the Milwaukee Panthers. Harper scored a second straight hat trick, which made her the first Gopher to score back-to-back hat tricks since 1998. After a win against the Army, Harper leads the Big Ten in goals (eight) and ranks second in assists (four), points (19) and shots on goal (17). Illinois’ own leading scorer, junior forward Sarah Foley, trails Harper at five goals, one assist, 11 points and 10 shots on goal. 

While Minnesota dominates on offense, Illinois has a much more diversified scoresheet. Eleven different Illini have scored compared to only four Gophers. This can be attributed to the Illini’s multi-talented players who are capable of supporting anywhere on the pitch. No matter the position, the team will pose a serious danger to Minnesota’s defense and could give Illinois an edge on Thursday. 

This game will hinge on the defense since both teams already thrive on offense. Despite Minnesota boasting the Big Ten’s leading goal-scorer, Illinois ranks second in the conference for scoring. In total, the Illini have 17 goals and 8.1 points per game. The Illini lead the Big Ten in saves and assists thanks to redshirt sophomore Izzy Lee (35, 23). With 16 different players having recorded an assist so far, Illinois ranks 11th nationally.

Illinois returns home to Demirjian Park on Thursday at 7 p.m. where they will face the Minnesota Gophers. 

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