Catching Up
Illini Week in Review
The Fighting Illini's first true road trip of the season ended with a 1-1 split. Illinois lost a heartbreaker on Friday afternoon to UConn, 2-1 in double overtime. Senior Jordan Hilbrands tallied the only goal of the afternoon for Illinois, who let one get away in Storrs. The Orange and Blue outshot the Huskies 19-11, and notched eight corner kicks to UConn's two, but couldn't get the go-ahead goal.
Illinois rebounded on Sunday to claim a 1-0 victory over Yale in New Haven. The Bulldogs were coming off a 1-0 upset victory over Penn State on Friday, so this was a good road victory for the Illini. Again it was Hilbrands who scored for Illinois, her third goal in as many games. She is now tied with freshman Vanessa DiBernardo for the team scoring lead. Illinois had to withstand a late charge from Yale, which peppered the net with nine shots, five of which required saves from senior Alex Kapicka. She and sophomore Steph Panozzo again split time in net in both games, with Panozzo playing the first half and Kapicka the second.
The Illini have another road matchup on Saturday, as they'll visit the Cincinnati Bearcats in a 6pm CDT start. At the start of the season, this looked like a very good chance for the Illini to pick up a road win, but the Bearcats are brimming with confidence after a 5-0-1 start to their season, which includes a tie against Northwestern and a win over Wisconsin in Madison. Defense has been the key for Cincinnati, as they have not allowed a goal in their past four games (3-0-1). One of those wins also came against former Illini assistant coach Christian Michner's College of Charleston squad, so the Illini should be able to get a good scouting report.
Big Ten in Review
Friday 9/3
UConn 2 Illinois 1 2OT
Michigan State 4 Eastern Michigan 0
Sunday 9/5
Illinois 1 Yale 0
Team of the Week: Minnesota. The Gophers continue to take care of business in their nonconference schedule, getting a pair of wins over NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago. Coming into the season, I had high expectations for this veteran Minnesota team, and they've done nothing to dispel that so far. One red flag: they did lose standout defender Jennie Clark to a broken collarbone in a match against Belmont on Tuesday. She's expected to be out until late October.
Team of the Weak: Penn State. With losses to UConn and Yale, the Nittany Lions are now just 1-3-1 on the season. None of the losses have come to bad teams, but none of them were to ranked opponents either. This is reminiscent of PSU's slow start a season ago, but that was a veteran squad that came roaring back to win the Big Ten title. This year's edition is much younger, and we'll see how coach Erica Walsh can get them to respond.
To the Polls
Down to four Big Ten teams in the Top Drawer 64. Not sure what they're waiting to see from Minnesota, but still no Gophers listed. The four teams are Ohio State (20), Penn State (27), Michigan State (28) and Purdue (43).
The Gophers make up for their slight by Top Drawer by being the only Big Ten team ranked by Soccer America in their Top 25 poll this week. The Gophers check in at number 23.
No Big Ten teams made the NSCAA Top 25 this week. Minnesota is the first team receiving votes (71), and should move into the poll if they don't slip up this week. The Illini are also receiving votes (55) and would be ranked at #28 if the poll extended that far. Also receiving votes are Ohio State (16) and Penn State (3).
Meanwhile, Illinois has shot all the way to the top of the NSCAA's Great Lakes Regional rankings. I must admit, I was surprised to see that. If I were compiling these rankings, I would likely put Minnesota at the top. I would probably put Milwaukee right where they are in second (losses to Notre Dame and a strong Auburn team, but wins over Ohio State and Michigan State), with the Illini in third. If Illinois can get a win on Saturday at Cincinnati, that may be enough for me to leapfrog them over the Panthers (that is, if I had a vote).
Why no love for the Big Ten at this point? The teams with high expectations entering the season (Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State) have stumbled early, while the teams off to good starts (Minnesota, Illinois) were receiving little to no preseason acclaim. I would also look for Ohio State to get more attention if they can maintain the momentum they've built over the last couple of weeks. After a home game against Cleveland State, OSU has a big road trip in Arizona next weekend. A sweep there would almost certainly get the Buckeyes back into the national polls.
What's on Tap
No picks from last week's games to share with you. I simply ran out of time before the Illini kicked off at noon on Friday. The week before last, I had a pretty mediocre 12-7-3 record with my predictions, putting me at 22-10-5 for the season. I'll try to do a bit better this time around. As always, my predicted winners are in bold.
Wednesday 9/8
Cleveland State at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have righted the ship after a tough opening weekend. As someone pointed out to me, it appears they've solidified things in goal with freshman Lauren Middleman, who was yesterday named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Friday 9/10
Penn State vs. Washington (in Portland). The Huskies are always a solid side, but appear to be a bit down from last year. This is a very big game for the Nittany Lions to get back on track before a huge challenge on Sunday against the Portland Pilots.
Michigan at Toledo. I struggled quite a bit with this pick. Neither team has been particularly dynamic on offense this season, and it could easily end in a scoreless draw. I'll take the home team, who did win on the road at Purdue in the season's opening week.
DePaul at Michigan State. Look for Sparty to get the taste of Sunday's loss at Milwaukee out of their mouths with a win at home.
Minnesota at Bowling Green. Part of a MAC weekend for the Gophers, who play at Toledo on Sunday. This should be the easier of the two matches.
Hofstra at Purdue. The Boilermakers have been plugging along since that loss to Toledo. The only loss since then is in California against USC, which looked to be a pretty even match.
South Dakota State at Wisconsin. SDSU advanced to the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, but they don't look to be quite as strong this season, with a loss to Drake and a tie against Creighton on the ledger so far.
Texas A&M at Indiana. The Hoosiers are dreaming of a big non-conference win in Bloomington, like they had over Florida last season. But with their defense currently looking for answers, they won't have the firepower to keep up with a very strong Aggie squad.
Iowa at College of Charleston. Since a home loss to DePaul, the Hawkeyes have outscored their opposition 12-0 in four wins (including a victory over a good Central Michigan team). I'd love to see former Illini assistant Christian Michner pick up a big win for C of C, but he'll have to wait until Sunday against Presbyterian.
Saturday 9/11
Illinois at Cincinnati. How good are the Bearcats? Certainly they're improved from last season, and we'll find out more after this Saturday's game against the Illini. Looking back over some of their stats so far this season, they were outshot 21-6 against Northwestern in a scoreless tie. They beat Wisconsin without Laurie Nosbusch in a statistically even game. Their defense has been very stout, with four straight shutouts, but the Illini have yet to be shut out in 2010 and I think that trend continues.
Sunday 9/12
Iowa vs. Davidson. The Wildcats won the Southern Conference last season, but the Hawkeyes should have enough weapons to take care of business.
Loyola IL at Michigan State. Should be a comfortable home win for Sparty.
Texas A&M at Purdue. The Boilermakers should put up more of a fight than the Hoosiers, but the Aggies will have revenge on their minds after Purdue won in College Station last season.
Hofstra at Indiana. This is no gimme for Mick Lyon's squad, but a game they really need to win after a tough match against A&M on Friday night.
Minnesota at Toledo. Expect a hard-fought defensive battle in this one, but the Gophers have more attacking weapons and should get the victory.
Eastern Michigan at Northwestern. The best teams have problems winning in Evanston, and EMU is not one of the best teams.
Penn State at Portland. The Nittany Lions have the talent to play with Portland, but this looks to be a team lacking in confidence at this point in the season.
Wisconsin at Milwaukee. The Panthers have been tough on Big Ten teams so far this season with wins at Ohio State and versus Michigan State. Right now, both of those teams are better than the Badgers.
On the Air
I won't be making the trip over to Cincinnati because of other broadcasting commitments, but should be in attendance for both Illini home matches next week against LSU and Louisville, which should both be good tests for Illinois. In the meantime, be on the lookout for some interviews with players and coaches here at IlliniHQ.com. Thanks for reading.
bmoline@wdws.com
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