UCLA tops Illini on late goal

CHAMPAIGN – Lauren Cheney is a 2008 Olympian, a three-time first-team All-American and the 2007 collegiate National Player of the Year.

Now add thorn in the side of the Illinois women's soccer team to the resume of  UCLA's gifted senior forward.

Cheney scored the winning goal and assisted on the No. 9 Bruins' other tally Friday night in a 2-1 victory against the No. 11 Illini in the opener of the Illini Challenge Cup.

The loss was the first of the season for Illinois (2-1-1), which entered the 79th minute of the match at the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium tied with the Bruins (2-1-1) before Cheney broke the 1-1 deadlock.

"Tonight there were two good soccer teams on the field," UI coach Janet Rayfield said. "The exciting thing is that may be the best soccer we've played to date, but it's definitely not the best soccer we have in us. We know our team is going to get a lot better, which bodes well for the rest of the season."

After falling behind in the fourth minute, Illinois knotted the score in the 37th when senior forward Chichi Nweke scored on a scramble play inside the box. Niki Read and Shayla Mutz assisted on the goal.

Although the Bruins ended up outshooting Illinois 23-10 – including 11-2 in shots on goal – keeper Alexandra Kapicka kept the Illini close with eight saves.

But the UI defense couldn't stop Cheney late in the second half, the Indianapolis native scoring from inside the box at the 78:11 mark on assists by Amelia Mathis and Sydney Leroux.

"When you play a good team, you can't rest at any point," Rayfield said. "We will face many teams with a lot of talent this year, but it will be tough to find a team as talented as UCLA."

Illinois will face California Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. Sunday in the tournament finale.

In volleyball:

Florida State 3, Illinois 0. The No. 8 Illini committed 25 hitting errors and were swept by the unranked Seminoles 26-24, 25-22, 25-17 in the opening match of the Hotel Encanto Invitational at Las Cruces, N.M.

Illinois (2-1), which entered with a season hitting percentage of .342, was outhit .267-.116. Laura DeBruler, Michelle Bartsch and Kylie McCulley each committed seven hitting errors in the loss.

"We had streaks where we played really well today but just couldn't string it together," Illini coach Kevin Hambly said. "We didn't handle the ball well on serve-receive and made too many errors, which is completely uncharacteristic of this team."

DeBruler finished with a match-high 13 kills, while McCulley contributed 10 and Bartsch nine. No other Illini had more than two kills. In contrast, six Seminoles had at least four kills, led by Stephanie Neville with nine.

The Illini outblocked FSU (4-1) 9-7 behind freshman middle blocker Erin Johnson's five block assists.

"Our block was better than last weekend," Hambly said, "but we just need to work on stringing everything together for tomorrow."

Illinois will play the host Aggies at 2 p.m. today before facing a touring Italian club team in an exhibition at 8 p.m.

In men's cross-country:

Illini extend title streak. The Illini men opened the season with their fifth consecutive Illini Challenge title at the UI Arboretum course.

Led by winner Colin Mickow, Illinois had the top four finishers and five of the top seven in the 6-kilometer event. The Illini scored 17 points to far outdistance runner-up Illinois State (55) in the six-team meet.

"The guys were very comfortable out there today and definitely set the pace for the other teams," UI coach Wendel McRaven said.

Mickow finished in 18 minutes, 52 seconds, followed by teammates Dan Kremske (18:55) in second, Phil Pompei (19:06) in third and Tom Achtein (19:07) in fourth.

"We worked together as a team and kept it nice and smooth throughout the race," Kremske said.

In women's cross-country:

Thompson paces Illinois. With most of its top runners scheduled to debut next weekend, Illinois opened its season by placing second in the Illini Challenge at the UI Arboretum.

Junior Ashley Thompson was the top Illini finisher and third overall, running a personal-best 14:39 in the 4K race.

"Ashley was outstanding," UI coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "She ran a minute and five seconds faster than she did last year (in the same meet). I think it says a lot to the work she put in over the summer and the dedication she has to wanting to be really good."

The Illini scored 49 points to trail Illinois State (24) in the four-team meet.

Freshman Courtney Yaeger opened her collegiate career as the No. 2 Illinois finisher, placing 10th overall in 15:12.58.

The Illini entered six freshmen, all of whom placed in the top 20.

"The freshmen ... did a great job for their first time coming out here," Rasmussen said. "For them to come out in just the second week of school and really get in the mix and compete, I felt that was the best thing about it."

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