Good Start for Illinois Soccer
Illini Week in Review
Illinois started off its season with a 2-0 win at Loyola (IL) on Friday night. Freshman Vanessa DiBernardo showed that she's ready to make an immediate contribution to the 2010 squad, as she assisted on the night's first goal, and scored the second. The first goal of the night for the Illini came off DiBernardo's corner kick in the seventh minute, as she found senior Danielle Kot in the box, who then headed it into the back of the net. DiBernardo then added the second goal five minutes later to conclude the scoring for the night. Head coach Janet Rayfield was happy with the win, but said that she wanted to see more toughness from her team. Rayfield said the Illini let Loyola push them around after the second goal, and that can't happen against stronger opponents.
Last night was the home opener for the Orange and Blue, and Illinois fired 34 shots at the Wright State Raiders in a 3-1 win. The shot totals were 20-2 in favor of Illinois at halftime, but the scoreboard showed a 1-1 tie. Illinois struck first off of a flip throw-in from freshman Megan Pawloski. The throw went all the way into the box, where fellow freshman DiBernardo was able to settle and fire it past Raider keeper Brooke McCurdy to the near post. However, the Raiders took advantage of a defensive lapse from the Illini in the final minute of the half to tie the score. A poor clearance plus failure to mark sophomore Emilie Fillion allowed the Raider to fire a high shot over Illini goalkeeper Steph Panozzo for the equalizer.
In the second half, more of the Illini shots found their target, and finally resulted in the go-ahead goal from sophomore Nicole Denenberg. The midfielder's first career goal caromed in off the left post in the 77th minute for the game-winner. Junior Jenna Carosio added insurance in the 83rd minute for the 3-1 final score. After a number of high shots from outside the box from the Illini in the first half, it's worth noting that both Denenberg and Carosio's goals came on low shots through traffic in the box.
Janet Rayfield's comment after the game was that the Illini "peppered the air" with many of their shots, especially in the first half, but that she was happy with all of the chances her squad was able to create. The quality of chances improved in the second half, but will have to further improve as the quality of competition also improves over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, senior Danielle Kot called the defensive effort against the Raiders "just okay," but was very happy to be named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Next up for the Illini (2-0) is a home game against Ball State on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals are 2-0 after a pair of home wins over Xavier (2-1) and Indiana State (1-0). The Illini defeated Indiana State 4-1 in an exhibition win on August 9. Before the Cardinals visit Champaign on Sunday, they'll play at IUPUI on Friday night.
Big Ten in Review
Friday 8/20
Illinois 2 Loyola 0
Penn State 2 West Virginia 1 OT
Wisconsin at Green Bay ppd.
Sunday 8/22
North Carolina 3 Michigan State 0
Tuesday 8/24
Illinois 3 Wright State 1
Team of the Week: I'll go with Penn State. The Nittany Lions were the higher ranked team in their game at West Virginia, but the Mountaineers had beaten PSU four straight times before Friday's 2-1 overtime win in Morgantown. Some of Penn State's new faces contributed to the win, including sophomore goalkeeper Krissy Tribbett and freshman forward Tani Costa, who scored the game winner.
Team of the Weak: Ohio State went 0-1-1 at home, but it was against two NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago (Milwaukee and Marquette). I'll give the dubious distinction to Iowa, who suffered a 2-0 loss at home to a DePaul team picked to finish in the lower half of the Big East. In a non-conference schedule with little bite, Iowa needed to pick up a win against the Blue Demons.
To the Polls
Still five Big Ten teams listed in the Top Drawer 64, which projects the NCAA Tournament field. It's the same five as last week: Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue. They tend to be a bit more conservative about moving teams in and out than other polls, so we'll see what happens next week if Ohio State and Purdue continue to struggle.
Just two Big Ten teams in this week's NSCAA Top 25 coaches poll. Penn State is up one spot to #12, while Wisconsin remains at #20. Michigan State was the only other Big Ten school to receive votes this week.
Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions and Badgers both remain unchanged in this week's Soccer America Top 25, with PSU at #11 and Wisconsin at #16.
One of the nice things about the Soccer Times Top 25, is that they tell you which coaches vote in the poll each week. So, you know who to blame when Wisconsin falls out of the Top 25 despite not playing;-) That leaves Penn State as the only team in this week's poll at #14, up one spot from last week. The Badgers are the team receiving the most votes not in the poll, while Ohio State, Illinois and Minnesota also received votes this week. So, explain to me how Milwaukee beats Ohio State in Columbus, yet the Buckeyes receive eight votes while Milwaukee gets just one.
What's on Tap
Another full weekend of non-conference games is on the agenda, with every Big Ten team playing at least once. In last week's predictions, I went a solid, but not spectacular, 10-3-2 with my picks. The ones I missed were Toledo over Purdue, Milwaukee topping Ohio State and Penn State defeating West Virginia. Here are this week's games, with my picks in bold.
Friday 8/27
Northwestern vs Cincinnati (in Madison). The Wildcats showed some spunk with their overtime win over DePaul. The Blue Demons were a better side than the Bearcats last season, so I'll give the Wildcats the edge on a neutral site.
Michigan vs Pepperdine (in San Diego). In what looks to be a fairly even matchup on paper, I'll go with the team just a couple hours away from home.
Miami FL at Purdue. Without forward Vanessa Ibewuike, I think the Boilermakers will struggle to score against better defensive teams. The Hurricanes can struggle to score at times, but are always well-organized on the defensive side.
UCLA at Wisconsin. The Badgers really could have used that match against Green Bay to tune up before welcoming the Bruins into Madison. This is a tough way to open the season, and Paula Wilkins' side will be hard-pressed to match UCLA's firepower.
Indiana at Kentucky. I struggled a bit with this one, but the Hoosiers should have enough offense to get past a side that was shutout twelve (!) times in 2009, including by lowly Mississippi State.
Northern Iowa at Iowa. The Hawkeyes should cruise in this one. UNI was outshot by lowly Iowa State 20-5 on Sunday at home.
Minnesota at Vanderbilt. The Gophers played with 2009 College Cup team Notre Dame on the road in South Bend before falling 1-0 on a late goal. Vandy has some talent, but is nowhere near the Irish's class.
Ohio State at Pittsburgh. The Panthers are coming off a 2-0 home loss to Ohio University. The Buckeyes are tougher competition than the Bobcats.
Virginia at Penn State. This should be a great game, and is a rematch of a second-round NCAA contest from last season that the Cavaliers won 6-2. Virginia was very much an up-and-down team in 2009, and I'll take the home team in this one.
Sunday 8/29
UCLA vs Northwestern (in Madison). Too much Bruin firepower for the 'Cats to handle.
Western Michigan at Michigan State. After battling North Carolina last week, the only concern for Sparty is taking the Broncos lightly. Even then, it might not matter.
Ball State at Illinois. The Cardinals and Illini are both 2-0, and Ball State does look to be improved. But Wright State is probably better, and the Illini outshot them 34-5 last night.
Indiana at Butler. The Bulldogs did a nice job taking Dayton to double-overtime before losing 1-0. However, they were outshot in that match 28-10. I'll take the Hoosiers.
Minnesota at Western Kentucky. Tennessee absolutely dominated the Hilltoppers last week, and I think the Gophers are better than the Volunteers.
West Virginia at Ohio State. The Mountaineers and Buckeyes played to a scoreless tie last season in Morgantown. WVU is comparable in quality to the Marquette team that tied OSU in Columbus last week. I think the Buckeyes' up-and-down ways will take a dip in this one.
St. Bonaventure at Purdue. Purdue's lengthy home stint to start the season will continue with a win over the Bonnies.
Central Michigan at Iowa. If the Hawkeyes can't handle DePaul at home, I don't think they'll have enough to beat a second-round NCAA Tournament team from last year.
Cincinnati at Wisconsin. The Badgers will bounce back after a tough match on Friday night to beat the Bearcats.
William & Mary at Penn State. The Tribe isn't the soccer powerhouse that it was when Penn State head coach Erica Walsh played there.
Michigan at San Diego. USD was an NCAA Tournament team in 2009, and beat then #19 USC in their season opener.
Tuesday 8/31
Minnesota at Belmont. Belmont was outshot by Southeast Missouri State 28-13 in its season opener. The Gophers shouldn't have a problem.
Northwestern at BYU. The Wildcats typically struggle away from home, while BYU was an NCAA Tourney team last season.
There are quite a few even matchups this weekend on paper. As a result, I could do very well or very poorly with my predictions this week. We'll see how it goes.
On the Air
Tune in this Sunday to WDWS for the Illinois-Ball State game. Gametime is 1pm, but the match will be tape delayed to start after St. Louis Cardinal baseball at approximately 3:30pm. Former Illini Brittany Garrett will once again join me on the broadcast. Thanks for reading.
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