In the last matchup between Illinois (13-4-2) and Ohio State (8-4-6) earlier this season, Illinois struggled to fight through the adversity it faced when the game wasn’t going according to plan. The Illini learned from that experience in their first 2025 Big Ten tournament game. Illinois won the rematch 1-0 Thursday afternoon by surviving a physical, defensive-focused first half.
“It’s a product of the work that they’ve put in pretty tirelessly every day,” said head coach Katie Hultin. “They did a good job of weathering the storm at the beginning of the game in the first half. We were prepared going into that game, and they did a good job.”
Quick start
In its first Big Ten tournament game in five years, Illinois wasted no time getting started. Both the Illini and the Buckeyes played fast-paced out of the gate. The only difference was that Ohio State benefitted from this set pace while Illinois did not.
For the first 20 minutes of the first half, the Buckeyes managed to keep control of the ball. This allowed them to sustain a quick pace of play for longer. The Illinois backline didn’t receive much of a break through much of the first half because of this.
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When the Illini did get their offensive chances later, they attempted to match the Buckeyes’ pace. Using their speed to get up the field, sophomore forward Emma Yee and senior forward Lia Howard tried to get Illinois out of the midfield and kickstart the offense.
Suffocating pressure from Buckeyes
In its three previous games, Ohio State netted seven total goals. The Buckeyes’ frontline was prepared to score going into Thursday’s matchup. Maintaining possession was the first step in doing so.
Ohio State applied high pressure on Illinois as it tried to advance the ball up the field and into the midfield. Whenever an Illini moved into the midfield, two to three Buckeyes were ready to force a turnover. This let Ohio State stay in its attacking third.
Illinois’ mistakes forced its defense to work harder. The Buckeyes were persistent in their attack, but the Illini defense held strong nonetheless.
The box score reflected the Buckeyes’ increased possession time in the first half. Ohio State had 16 shots, with nine on target. Comparatively, Illinois had two shots, just one on target, at the end of the first 45 minutes.
However, this stat line didn’t bother the Illini. Keeping the score at 0-0 enforced the belief that Illinois wasn’t going home yet.
“Sometimes we need a reminder that we’re pretty good,” Hultin said. “We just need to weather the storm when it gets hard … there’s nothing magical about it.”
Weathering the storm
Having belief in themselves helped the Illini turn their offense around. Illinois became the aggressor instead of a survivor against Ohio State. The Illini didn’t let the shot differential impact the game’s result.
The Illini started to do what they do best, which is use their high press to their advantage. This ultimately helped them find success. In the 55th minute, Howard forced a turnover in Illinois’ attacking third and tapped in a goal to put Illinois up 1-0.
“When we score off things we know we’re good at, that gives us more confidence because that’s what we train all the time,” Hultin said. “We anticipate that we’re gonna score goals off that press.”
After Howard’s goal, it was all defense down the stretch to seal the win. The Illini backline drove their success all season long, and that didn’t change Thursday.
“Our individual defensive moments were key,” Hultin said. “We didn’t dive in, we didn’t foul unnecessarily, we moved our feet. They have some talented people with the ball, and we knew that. They did a good job of just standing them up.
Lights out Lee
As she has done all season long, redshirt junior goalkeeper Izzy Lee was a brick wall against the challenging Ohio State frontline. The Buckeyes finished the match with 22 shots, 11 being on target. That didn’t faze Lee. She combatted that with 11 saves, nine in the first half.
Lee’s first half performance was one of her best all season. She didn’t concede a goal against a determined Ohio State offense. Lee stayed composed, just as she had the entire year, and didn’t let up.
“Without (Lee), we’re not winning that game … She was lights out,” Hultin said.
Another rematch
Illinois faces another opponent it lost to earlier this season in the quarterfinals. The Illini have a rematch Sunday against the No. 1-seeded Washington Huskies (11-2-5). In the Illini’s West Coast road trip earlier this season, the Huskies handed Hultin her first loss as the Illini’s head coach. She and the rest of the Illini are ready for the rematch.
“We had an opportunity in that game,” Hultin said. “The main thing is just being able to settle in and be confident when we play.”
