North Carolina is considered to have the most prestigious women’s college soccer program in the country.

And with 20 national championships in only 33 seasons, it is hard to argue that.

North Carolina’s program began in 1979 when women’s soccer was established as collegiate sport. The next four years, Illinois soccer head coach Janet Rayfield was a member of the Tar Heels, where she ranks second all-time in goals scored, only behind U.S. Olympic star Mia Hamm.

For the first time since 2008, Rayfield will travel back to her alma mater in Chapel Hill, N.C., this Friday when the Illini square off with second-seeded North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament. She will be toeing up against National Soccer Hall of Fame coach Anson Dorrance, who Rayfield played under when she was in college.

“It’s an honor, almost. I can’t use the word fun because it’s a competition, and both of us want to win, and we’re going to compete,” Rayfield said of coaching against her former coach. “But he’s instilled that competition in me. I’m competitive partly because I played there.”

This situation feels like déjà vu for Rayfield. In the 2008 season, Illinois knocked off Missouri on the road in penalty kicks to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Illini then traveled to North Carolina but were eliminated from the tournament when they lost 3-0.

After taking down Missouri in penalty kicks in the first round this year, Rayfield is looking for a different result to even the score.

“It’s fun to go back where my passion for college soccer and where a lot of college soccer started,” Rayfield said. “I’m excited to go back there, but really I’m excited for this team to still be playing, and for them to be one of the 32 teams still competing because of the resiliency they’ve showed.”

She added that the Illini are treating the match no differently than any other one, despite traveling to her former college. They feel that the level of competitiveness, though, could be higher than it has been all season.

While playing for a potential national championship is motivating enough, the Illinois players feel an added incentive playing against the Tar Heels. While their main goal is just to advance, they look forward to trying to give Rayfield the win against North Carolina.

“There definitely is (extra motivation),” junior midfielder Allie Osoba said. “We definitely want to just, not only show the other teams, but play for Janet, let her know that she’s a great coach and she deserves just as much as us to win on the field.”

“We definitely want to get the win for Janet and want to play our best,” senior forward Nicole Denenberg said. “Everyone wants to go to UNC when they’re a little girl watching soccer, so it’s awesome playing there and getting the opportunity, but we need to take it as any other game and just come out hard.”

While Rayfield is glad that her players are using her return as motivation, she said she wants them to play for their own sake, simply because they want to come out on top against a tough team.

“This game really should be about them. I hope that the extra bit that they put out on the field comes from their desire to win, not because it’s my alma mater,” Rayfield said. “They should be competing because they’ve set a goal that they want to get to the Final Four, that they want to get to the next round … That will be greater motivation than anything they should find in terms of trying to make me proud.”

For the Illini players, though, both will be motivating going into their matchup with the Tar Heels, even if Rayfield said she did not want herself to be the motivation. Depending on what happens, it could be a blessing in disguise for her.

Charlie can be reached at [email protected].