Rhythm applies to more than just music. It also plays a huge part in a soccer team’s success.

This weekend, the Illinois women’s soccer team couldn’t find the right rhythm, which cost the Illini their first home loss of the season against Penn State. Sunday’s game was the battle against the two best bands in the Big Ten, but while Illinois was trying to find its rhythm, Penn State seemed to hit every note perfectly. 

Within the first minute of Sunday’s game, the Nittany Lions had already tallied their first goal. They were connecting strong passes, which allowed them many dangerous attempts on goal.

The Nittany Lions produced 25 shots, 10 on goal, compared to the Illini’s 19 shots, only four of which were on target. 

Unfortunately, Illinois wasn’t able to create rhythm until the second half. 

“Once we settled down and started to play and find a rhythm, we did some good things,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “We created, at least, shots. I think the thing right now is the shots we are creating, we need to get on frame from an attacking standpoint.”

One of the major attributes to creating rhythm in soccer is connecting passes. The predominant way to get from the defensive backline to a dangerous attack near the opponent’s goal is through a strong connection of passes. 

The Illini had success against Big Ten opponent Iowa by using quick one-touch passes, but weren’t able to perform those against a faster Nittany Lions team. A lot of Illinois’ passes were quickly intercepted by the more agile Penn State players. Illinois was able to move the ball up the field into Penn State’s half but never in a comfortable position to confidently strike the ball on target. 

Senior Nicole Denenberg said it’s due to the team’s preparation, rather than the actions of its opponents.

“It’s more of us just coming out and being ready to play,” she said. “Really moving off the ball and getting into those spaces where we can connect passes.”

The Big Ten is well known as a physical conference. Though there were only nine fouls in the game against Penn State, there was still a strong sense of physicality shown. In the previous match Friday against Ohio State, a total of 25 fouls were assessed. The rough play made it hard for the Illini to win 50-50 balls resulting from flip throw-ins, corner kicks and goal kicks. 

“Penn State is extremely athletic,” senior Niki Read said. “They were extremely fast and extremely physical. Every time the ball would be a 50-50, you know that you’re going to have a battle with them.” 

The Nittany Lions didn’t produce any flip throw-ins, while the Illini had multiple players use the flip throw such as junior Megan Pawloski and freshman Nicole Breece. This throw-in, along with other set plays, gave Illinois great 50-50 balls inside the 18-yard box, but Penn State’s defensive third won and cleared out the opportunities.

The rhythm for an attacking play doesn’t only involve the midfielders and forward positions. Every offensive play starts from the backline. However, this is another place the Illini struggled, allowing the Nittany Lions to score three first half goals.

Illinois’ hesitation interrupted not only the offensive flow, but the defensive one as well. Holding onto the ball for one more second or taking one more touch can give the opposing team a dangerous opportunity in the defensive third. 

“We just have to be confident in our defensive decisions,” Rayfield said. “Defense in this game, hesitation can be a difficult thing to deal with. I think we hesitated a little bit in those first 20 minutes, and Penn State certainly punished us and made us pay for those.”

Beginning a rhythm and setting a tone for the match starts before the team steps out on the field. High energy and good camaraderie before warmups is essential for a successful game. 

“The energy level coming into the locker room at the beginning of the warmup is a huge difference, including the mentality,” Read said. “We always play good soccer throughout the game, but I think against Ohio State we played from the first minute to the last minute. We had no mental breaks, we played our butts off. And in this game, it was more lapses and a lot more breaks, especially from the beginning.”

Illinois will look to find a strong rhythm throughout the season, especially this weekend on its first conference road trip to face Indiana and Purdue. The Illini hope to learn from the weekend’s mistakes and develop a rhythm from the start. 

“Hopefully, we will take from this a good lesson,” Read said. “Going to two away games with a lot of energy. I know this week at practice we are going to work hard. This will be in the back of our head at practice, so I know we will be ready for them.”

Gina can be reached at [email protected] and @muelle30.