For the Illinois soccer team, the 2013 spring season was about finding their identity. With several players set to take on larger roles next fall, the four spring games were used as opportunities to feel out the team’s young talent.

This offseason, the freshman additions include midfielder Alia Abu-Douleh, defender Hope D’Addario, outside midfielder Meegan Johnston, midfielder Jenna Miller, central midfielder Allison Stucky, goalkeeper Claire Wheatley and defender Casey Conine — none of whom were available to compete this spring. Forward/midfielder Nicole Denenberg, defender Kristen Gierman, forward Marissa Holden, forward Shayla Mutz, goalkeeper Steph Panozzo, and forward Niki Read will all be graduating.

Head coach Janet Rayfield sought to solidify the team’s talent on a player-by-player basis in order to shore up the squad as a unit before the games count next fall.

“I think any time we’re going into the spring, we’re really working on individuals,” Rayfield said. “When we get out here and watch a game like this (versus Illinois State) we’re seeing, has that individual gotten better in the thing that we want? So, not all the pieces of the puzzle come together.”

In the spring season finale against ISU on April 20, the Illini defeated the Redbirds 2-1. While Rayfield saw a number of positives with the young team playing without senior Vanessa DiBernardo, who recently won the Four Nations Tournament with the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team, it had its moments of inconsistent play. Rayfield acknowledged the team didn’t perform exceptionally well in its attacking third.

Early in the game, this was due to the Illinois forwards playing toward the center of the field. Sophomore forward/midfielder Nicole Breece (5-foot-4), senior midfielder Allie Osoba (5-foot-6) and senior forward Jannelle Flaws (5-foot-7) were having difficulties getting past bigger ISU defenders like sophomore Rhianna Krutz (5-foot-10) during the first 20 minutes. It was not until senior forward Megan Pawloski and Breece began to spread out to the wings that they were able to create more scoring opportunities. These eventually led to the ISU defensive line spreading out, making space for two goals by Flaws.

“I think anytime we’ve been inside a lot … our space has been small,” Rayfield said. “You get outside, and the width of the field and the spaces — how close you are to each other in terms of our back — it changes. And so we had to sort of adjust to that.”

Illinois’ own defensive third was having trouble throughout the game keeping ISU’s wing players from getting behind the fullbacks. There also were a few size mismatches on the outside, which caused difficulties for the Illinois defense. There were several near-misses by the ISU attack. which easily could have evened the score.

“They were serving balls in behind us because we weren’t getting pressure on the ball from our midfield and our front runners,” Rayfield said.  

The Illini adjusted and the defense did a better job of holding ISU in check as the game progressed. The entire team put more pressure on the Redbirds, which disrupted passing lanes.

“In our defensive third, we were just trying to stay composed and compact,” junior defender Kassidy Brown said. “And not let them get the split ball through over the top and drop together as a team and step together as a team.”

The Illini defensive line stepped together fairly well with the Redbirds going offside a couple of times. Split balls were also a rarity. The major advantage for ISU all game was through the air, which resulted in its only goal, a header by 5-foot-9 sophomore Lauren Koehl.

While the pieces may not all be coming together, Illinois will get a boost when DiBernardo returns to the starting lineup and the newcomers arrive to bolster all levels of the field. Even though Rayfield wants a team that is a well rounded and cohesive group, the team also wants to maintain an aggressive offensive mentality.

“We have a lot of attacking personnel,” Flaws said. “And there’s a bunch of people we can rely on to score goals and get on line and things like that. And yes, Vanessa is such a good player. We definitely rely on her, but we also have other personnel who can step up and fill in shoes when she’s getting marked.”

Illinois began its spring season with a 3-0 loss at Kentucky, but bounced back with a 3-1 win at Wisconsin. The Illini showed some improvement after a 1-1 draw against Loyola by beating ISU. It will not be until August that the Illini see the full squad on the pitch, but with what she’s seen this spring and the talent that has yet to join the team, Rayfield looks for another run at the NCAA tournament.

“It’s a collective thing that, certainly, (DiBernardo’s) addition onto this, Casey Conine … and some of our incoming freshman, we look just to add to this and not just add individually, but synergistically,” she said. “There’s a synergy that comes from having those players that will make this team even that much better.”

Alex can be reached at [email protected] and @AlexOrtiz2334.