The Illinois soccer team traveled to South Bend, Ind., on Aug. 23 to take on the 10th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Illini offense struggled to find a rhythm and was only able to muster a single goal in a 4-1 loss.

“There was some good, some bad and some ugly,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “I think my initial impression was this team is better than they were when they stepped out against Virginia (in the preseason).”

Illinois started three freshmen — defender Casey Conine, midfielder Allison Stucky and goalkeeper Claire Wheatley. Wheatley won out over junior Lizzie Sanscrainte and senior Lauren Parkin for the starting position in goal. Earlier in the week Rayfield said it was possible that Sanscrainte and Wheatley would split time in goal for the first few games, but Wheatley played all 90 minutes.

The Irish wasted no time with quick forward runs and second chance shots. Notre Dame junior forward Lauren Bohaboy opened the first half scoring fest with a goal in the fourth minute. Illinois seemed overwhelmed by the quick pace of the Notre Dame offense and was not able to sustain possessions.

Sophomore forward Anna Gilbertson punched in the second goal, which went off Wheatley’s fingertips in the 22nd minute, from long range. Senior midfielder Elizabeth Tucker made it 3-0 in the 37th minute off a rebound that came after a close Wheatley save.

At the half, Notre Dame led in goals (3-0), total shots (14-8) and shots-on-goal (8-4). Wheatley had made five saves.

Thirty minutes into the second half, the first Illinois corner kick of the game resulted in a goal from Conine to make it 3-1. The Illini had little time to celebrate though as Notre Dame freshman forward Kaleigh Olmstead scored less than a minute later. She put it in at a tight angle, beating the Illini defense for Notre Dame’s fourth goal.

“A lot of times it was five of their players against our three backs and their speed up top was just incredible,” senior defender Kassidy Brown said.

The barrage of threats from Notre Dame’s offense did not stop as they continually snuffed out Illini possessions in the midfield and missed a few close shots in the box. Notre Dame forward Crystal Thomas dominated the right side of the field making long runs and creating scoring threats well into the last minute of play. She would have scored a goal of her own in the 88th minute if not for a handball and a last-minute shot hitting the crossbar before the final whistle.

“They run at you and they make you make decisions,” Rayfield said. “When we defended without hesitation we were much better but they certainly caused us to hesitate, caused us to second-guess some things and that makes it difficult on the defensive side.”

The Irish attack was aided by a few fouls by the Illinois defense, including one that resulted in a yellow card called on Conine in the 70th minute.

Illinois was unable to create many scoring opportunities and recorded a total shot ratio (shots for divided by shots for plus shots against) of only .342. Illinois had 13 shots and seven shots on goal, with Notre Dame nearly doubling them in both categories at 25 and 13, respectively. Star senior midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo was held in check most of the game with only one shot-on-goal recorded.

“I think we have a lot of things to learn from still,” DiBernardo said. “I think we were almost our worst enemies. I think once we just get more comfortable … we’ll do a lot better.”

The Illini (0-1-0) travel to Louisville for a game Aug. 25.

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