“We are struggling to score goals, and unfortunately that’s the piece of the game that matters when it comes to results,” head coach Janet Rayfield said. “I feel that this team has been the best soccer team every game we have stepped out.”

The Illini have scored one goal in their last five games. After a 2-0 start to the season at home, they’ve gone 1-7 and have been outscored 12-4. The team has out-shot its opponents in all but two games in that stretch. However, they haven’t been able to turn those opportunities into goals.

Sophomore Patricia George has been the team’s most productive forward thus far, second on the team in shots and one goal.

“I think we’re just second-guessing ourselves,” George said. “We just have to work harder in the box, be confident that we can make the shot.”

The Purdue game was decided early in the first half. The Boilermakers came out firing and scored in the 13^th minute of action. Erika Arkans boomed in a shot to the left side of the net to give Purdue the lead. Gianna Milaro made it 2-0 with a header off a corner kick set. After that, the Boilermakers never looked back. While the Illini out-shot the Boilermakers 15-7, and turned up the offensive pressure in the second half, out-shooting Purdue 6-1, they couldn’t manage to knock in a goal.

“I’m disappointed with the mentality we played with in the first half,” Rayfield said. “When a team comes in and fights, we have to be able to answer that. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Purdue had never beaten Illinois in Champaign before. The event marked Purdue’s first win in a conference opener since 2008. The Illini are now 1-2-2 in their last five conference openers.

Sunday provided a much better match for Illinois, but the results were the same. The Illini controlled the game but weren’t able to convert any of their scoring opportunities. The team outshot the Hoosiers 16-7, and only allowed one shot on goal. Indiana capitalized on that one shot, as forward Mykayla Brown put in the game-winner in the 92^nd minute. It’s the Illini’s second home overtime loss in the last two weekends.

The Illini dominated possession on Sunday but couldn’t make it count in the score column. The team has created plenty of scoring opportunities but hasn’t been able to capitalize on them. In the last five matches, Illinois has scored on one of 76 opportunities; their opponents have scored six goals on 36 shots. Through these ten games, the Illini have lost more games than they did through all of last season.

“There is still a lot of soccer to be played,” Rayfield said. “This team has to keep their head up and decide that they’re going to battle when they step on the field.”