As senior Illinois soccer defender Jenna Carosio began to size up a penalty kick in the 84th minute against Michigan on Saturday night, she found herself in a familiar spot.

The Novi, Mich., native looked into the opposing net to find a familiar face standing in the goalie box: former teammate Hayley Kopmeyer.

“I had played with the goalie all my club career,” Carosio said. “So I had taken like a hundred PK’s against her in practice.”

Kopmeyer had been Carosio’s teammate on her club team, the Michigan Hawks.

As most players in the Big Ten are recruited from the Midwest, many players see club and high school teammates and rivals in conference play.

“I think you see that in the Big Ten a lot of kids in the Midwest grow up playing with and against each other,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “I’m sure it makes it a little bit different scenario standing up there facing a former teammate when the game is on the line.”

With six minutes left in the game with Illinois leading 2-1, Carosio had the opportunity to give the Illini some insurance with a two-goal lead if she were to score on her former teammate.

Although the last time they practiced with each other was senior year of high school, that past daily practice turned out to be very important in Saturday night’s game.

“I just made sure I looked at the ball, didn’t give anything away, and didn’t make eye contact,” Carosio said. “Yeah, I was a little nervous going into it cause I wasn’t sure if she remembered which way I went.”

“I just tried to hit it as hard as I could so it didn’t matter if she guessed right,” she added.

Carosio did exactly that, placing a strike that Kopmeyer couldn’t stop.

“It didn’t go quite as far into the corner as I would have liked but it worked,” Carosio said.

The senior’s goal proved to be crucial in Illinois’ 3-2 win. The Wolverines would find the net less than two minutes later.

Carosio’s goal became the difference in the game as the Illini secured their eighth straight victory.

When sophomore midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, who normally takes the penalty kicks, was given the game off to recover from injury, Rayfield called on Carosio to step up in the high-intensity moment.

“When it comes down to penalty kicks, it’s a lot about composure and nerves and confidence, and kind of those intangibles,” Rayfield said. “Obviously you have to be able to strike a ball and Jenna strikes a ball really well, but it’s more about stepping up there and being OK with the spotlight shining on you and the pressure being there.”

Carosio, who played midfielder for the Illini from 2008-10, switched to defender at the beginning of this season. Her leadership and lockdown defense became the backbone for Illinois, as she has played in every minute of the regular season.

“I think as this season has gone on and the success has found its way and we’ve become a very solid defensive team, Jenna’s confidence has grown, and that certainly showed as she stepped up to that line,” Rayfield said.

Along with that rise in confidence came improvement on the defensive side. The Illini defense tallied five consecutive shutouts during its current eight game winning streak.

In recognition of her stellar play this season she racked up a few conference awards. Carosio was named Big Ten Defender of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten on Tuesday.

“It was a cool, kind of surreal thing to be awarded for,” Carosio said. “Obviously I wouldn’t have ever imagined that even after last spring.”

The senior, who started in just eight games last season, credits her team for her success this season.

“My outside backs obviously do so much for me in getting that award so I thank them,” Carosio said. “If our team didn’t play as good of defense as a whole I wouldn’t even have a chance at getting that award, so it’s all due to my teammates and coaches.”