Illinois women's soccer sweeps games

With the clock creeping ever closer toward the end of the game, it was an unlikely hero who stepped up for the No. 21 Illinois soccer team Sunday. Sophomore forward Jordan Hilbrands scored her first career goal late against Michigan to give the Illini a hard-fought 1-0 victory in front of 2,036 fans, the second-largest crowd to ever see a soccer game at Illinois Track and Soccer Stadium.

Illinois flashed its depth and balance over the weekend in the win against the Wolverines and also in a 3-0 victory against Michigan State on Friday. Four players scored in the two games, and four others had assists. Hilbrand's goal was the most important, though, as it put the Illini (9-4) right back in the thick of the Big Ten race. With about 11 minutes to play, Hilbrands took a feed from the left, off the head of fellow sophomore Laura Knutson inside of the 18-yard box. She then made a move around a defender before sending a rocket off her left foot into the far right corner for the game's lone goal.

"It's amazing," Hilbrands said of her first goal. "I knew if Laura got it to me, I could make something happen. (Michigan) planned to make it a tight game so we knew if we had chances, we needed to make the most out of them."

The goal was a long time coming for the Illini, as they controlled the first half, allowing Michigan just one shot. The second half was much of the same, with the Wolverines struggling to even get the ball into Illinois territory in the opening 20 minutes.

Michigan came into the game with a much-talked-about 4-2-4 offensive formation, in which four attackers force the action up front. However, after playing an overtime game Friday, the Wolverines were content to sit back and pack in the defense. This caused some frustration for Illinois, which could not convert on several great opportunities, even though it outshot Michigan 11-5 for the game.

"It was an eternity on the bench," head coach Janet Rayfield said of waiting for the first goal. "They made it so difficult. We talked about trying to run in behind them and flip balls in between, and that's what happened (on the Illini goal), but boy, did it take a long time to get there."

Illinois did not wait around nearly as long Friday night to take it to Michigan State. Freshman Marissa Mykines scored late in the first half and senior defender Emily Zurrer and junior forward Chichi Nweke tallied goals off corner kicks in the second half.

In a game that was more evenly matched than the score indicated, goalie Alexandra Kapicka made several brilliant saves midway through the second half to keep a one-goal lead intact. On one save, Kapicka sprinted out of the goal and slid to knock away a Michigan State through pass intended for an open Spartan attacker.

"That's my job, I just have to execute," said Kapicka, who has allowed just two goals in the last six games. "We knew they were going to come at us with flashing runs, so we made sure we had good communication. I was reading the through balls pretty well."

With the win, the Illini move to 3-1 in the Big Ten and sit a half-game behind leaders Penn State and Ohio State.

"We can definitely move forward and build our confidence from here," Kapicka said. "We know if we just keep going at it, we can eventually get one."