When the Illinois soccer team began practicing penalty kicks, one thing was clear: The postseason was about to start.

In collegiate soccer, postseason games can’t end in a tie; following two overtime periods, teams compete in best-of-five penalty kicks with the hopes of advancing to the next round, which ride entirely on just a few 12-yard strikes.

The practice has paid off for the Illini, as they have competed in penalty kicks twice in just four postseason games so far. Both resulted in wins: The first was an opening-round victory of the Big Ten Tournament against Minnesota, with a 3-2 score in penalty kicks, while the second was a 3-0 sweep against Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. Senior goalkeeper Steph Panozzo saved both shots that were on target, leading the Illini to the second round at North Carolina, head coach Janet Rayfield’s alma mater.

“Penalty kicks right now, Steph Panozzo owns,” Rayfield said in a Monday press conference. “When you start a penalty kick shootout on the road with a save by your goalkeeper, it certainly gives you confidence, and you could see in the body language of the Missouri team (that) there was dejection sort of right from the get-go.”

Missouri had a number of chances in the overtime periods to grab the win, so advancing to penalty kicks was a relief for the Illini.

“The overtime was more challenging on my heart than the PKs were, to be honest,” Rayfield said.

One would think that going into a tough situation like this, the pressure is on the goalkeeper to keep her team in it. Panozzo, however, takes a different mental approach when she steps into the penalty box.

Following the victory against Missouri, Panozzo said she feels that the weight of the team is on the shooters. She said she simply stays loose and makes the saves that she knows she can, rather than worry about the ones that are out of her reach, something that can be common when opponents are striking from 12 yards out.

“I think we have a goalkeeper who has the right mindset going into penalty kicks,” Rayfield said. “When you’ve got a team and you see that kind of attitude from your goalkeeper, I think it’s certainly a situation that we go into with some confidence.”

The Illini’s faith when it comes to penalty kicks speaks to their change in mentality in the latter half of the season. The wins have piled up since they began focusing on the things they are good at, and the results are prevalent in penalty kicks. In fact, freshman midfielder Taylor Peterson and junior defender Kassidy Brown have recorded penalty-kick tallies in both matches.

Illinois will need to change things up, though, to avoid getting into a routine now that the scouting report is out there. But Rayfield said the team is not concerned.

“Now that we’ve done it a couple of times, I’m sure the video is out there,” Rayfield said. “So we’ve got to now make sure we have more players that are willing and ready to step up and do that, and I think we’ve got that in our squad.”

Charlie can be reached at [email protected].