Editor’s note: The Daily Illini sports desk sits down Sunday nights and decides which Illinois athlete or coach is our Illini of the Week. Student-athletes and coaches are evaluated by individual performance and contribution to team success.

Illinois senior Steph Panozzo’s statistics have no tallies, no shots on goal and no assists, though she has played a total of 1,964 minutes this season. Instead, she has recorded 97 saves and four shutouts. Panozzo has been the starting goalkeeper for the Illinois soccer team for the past two seasons and is referred to as “clutch” by head coach Janet Rayfield.

The goalkeeper position allows Panozzo to be the only player during the game that can touch the ball with her hands. She was first attracted to the role as a child because she was able to make an impact on the game in an unusual way.

“I kind of liked how it was a different perspective on the game. It was more of taking away other people’s chances as opposed to creating your own. And it was less running,” Panozzo joked.

Facing Penn State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois handed the Nittany Lions their first conference loss and first shutout of the season. This marked Panozzo’s fourth shutout this year, advancing Illinois to the tournament’s championship game against Ohio State. Though a shutout is credited to Panozzo, she shared the recognition with her teammates.

“To me, it means that it really is about a team,” she said. “There is no way that I could ever get a shutout without my defense playing amazing. In the Penn State game, it was one of the best defensive efforts we’ve had this season. I give them more of the credit than I give me. Most of the saves were just easy rollbacks because our defense played well.”

Panozzo worked through adversity in her defensive line throughout the season. As an on-field orchestrator of the back line, Panozzo dealt with both lineup and formation changes. Rayfield said Panozzo has handled the situation well.

“One of the things that makes a goalkeeper great is if they can limit the amount of times they have to make saves,” Rayfield said. “To Steph’s credit, the defense in front of her has changed quite a bit this year. She has had to organize a four-back, she’s had to organize a three-back, she’s had to organize different people in those formations. It’s been a real challenge for her organizationally, and those pieces are starting to come together and I think it shows for us.”

Nicole Breece recorded the semifinal’s only goal, off a flip-throw from junior Megan Pawloski in the 40th minute. Panozzo then had to defend the lead for the entire second half without letting Penn State tie the score. She exhibited an aggressive style of play, slide tackling offensive players for the ball on breakaways and punching the ball out of the box on corner kicks.

During the Big Ten Tournament’s championship game, Panozzo went as far as knocking her head on the goal post to make a save. Putting herself in those dangerous positions to keep the team in the game inspired the offense to do the same.

“Something I learned a long time ago is, if a goalie is willing to dive and hit her head on the post for you, then you should be able to do that for her on the other side of the field,” senior forward Niki Read said. “Going into games, you can keep that in the back of your head, knowing that Steph literally dove into the post to make a save, so when we are in the box scrambling to get a goal, it makes you want to dive and hit the post yourself to get a goal.”

The goalkeeper role is the only position in which the player can see the entire field throughout the game. With this advantage, it is easy to direct and control the game based on what they observe. Panozzo’s stern voice can always be heard as far as the top bleacher in the stands, directing her teammates play by play. Read says trust is a huge component in the relationship between a team and its goalkeeper.

“I’m so glad to have Steph on our side,” Read said. “I think she is one of the best goalies in the conference, if not in the country. I think one of the things that makes me so confident in her is her confidence in herself and her ability to stay mentally strong throughout the entire game. She never breaks down, and she is so composed. I’m never afraid of any situation because she is behind us.”

Though Panozzo had heroic performances in the Big Ten Tournament, she will have to remain consistent this weekend when the Illini travel to Columbia, Mo., to face off against the Tigers in the NCAA tournament’s first round.

“Courageous would probably be the first word to come out of my mouth when describing Steph, in a sense of she is willing to put herself out there,” Rayfield said. “Willing to take that sense of responsibility of being in the goal. She comes up big in big moments, and again, I think that has been part of her development. That hasn’t always been the case. Her own ability to focus has allowed her to come up with that big save in big moments, and that will be huge going forward.”

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