Illinois soccer headed to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium to face Ohio State on Sunday. After a hard-fought second half performance, Illinois failed to overturn the deficit created by the Buckeyes.
In a match that started back and forth, the Illini nearly took the lead 11 minutes in through senior forward Makala Woods. Good link-up play led to a shot inside the box, which was comfortably saved by Prichard of the Buckeyes.
In a sucker-punch move, the Buckeyes scored off a counterattack through star player Amanda Schlueter, who received the ball on the left wing and cut inside to smash the ball past senior goalkeeper Julia Cili into the bottom left corner. It was from then on that the game shifted toward the Buckeyes.
In the 20th minute, Cili came up clutch for the Illini by making an acrobatic diving save from an Emma Sears header to tip the ball over the net. It was Sears who was a thorn in the side of Illinois in the first half, who once again troubled the defense in the 25th minute to dribble past junior defender Ella Karolak into the six-yard box, and took a shot past Cili which hit the crossbar.
The Buckeyes troubled Illinois once again in the 30th minute through Schlueter who drove through the Illini midfield to feed the ball to Dudukovich, who took a touch into the box and slotted it past Cili into the bottom right corner, 2-0 Ohio State.
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The Illini immediately responded through freshman defender Mya Archibald, who had a low driven shot on the right side of the box saved by the legs of the in-form Pritchard.
Illinois showed fight in the second half, putting the Buckeyes on notice. In the 58th minute, a nice flick from Archibald sets up the pass for Makala Woods on the edge of the Ohio State box, who takes a snapshot that fizzes over the bar.
Seventy minutes in, further pressuring the Buckeyes defense, junior defender Angie Galo crossed the ball low from the righthand side to the edge of the box, which was shot by sophomore forward Sarah Foley and saved again by Pritchard.
The Illini finally got their goal in the 83rd minute through sophomore midfielder Lia Howard, who takes a shot from 22 yards out that deflects off a Buckeye defender and flies in off the post.
The Illini threw everything at the Buckeyes, and almost had something to show for it five minutes from time. The now confident Howard found herself unmarked in the Ohio State box from graduate student defender Bel Rolley’s cross, which was headed narrowly wide.
The Illini weren’t able to find an equalizer late on, courtesy of missed chances and a strong Buckeye defensive performance. Final score: Illinois 1, Ohio State 2.
The Illini hoped for a better result, but were very happy with their second half display. This result moves the Illini to 5-4-2 on the season, and 1-2-2 in the conference. They hope for more on their trip to Minnesota next Sunday.
