CHAMPAIGN — The Illinois soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision to Ohio State on Thursday at the Illinois Soccer Stadium.
The first-place Buckeyes (12-2-2, 5-1-1 Big Ten), who got two goals from Lauren Steuer and another from Tiffany Cameron, outshot the Illini 17-9.
“We lost the physical battle in the first half,” said Illinois coach Janet Rayfield, whose team fell to 6-6-3 and 1-3-2 in the Big Ten. “They were able to hold us off, win balls and get to balls quicker than we did. On a night like this, if you can hold someone off and get your toe on the ball, things happen. I don’t think energy or effort was an issue tonight. When we got the ball we did some good things, but it seemed like every time we got into a physical battle Ohio State came out with the ball. As a result they won the game.”
Men’s gymnasts ranked fifth. The Illini men’s gymnastics team is ranked fifth in the GymInfo preseason coaches’ poll. Illinois is the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team behind No. 4 Michigan. The Illini and Wolverines are defending conference co-champions.
“Coming in at No. 5 in the poll is pretty solid for us,” Illini coach Justin Spring said. “I think we have the potential to win the Big Ten again and do well at the NCAA Championships.”
Defending national champion Stanford is No. 1 after receiving eight of 16 first-place votes.
Illinois opens the season Jan. 16 at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago.
Freshman advances. Illini freshman Breanne Smutko advanced to the third round of qualifying singles as the ITA Midwest Regional Championships opened Thursday at Evanston. After receiving a first-round bye, Smutko defeated Elena Ivanova of Michigan State 6-3, 6-1.
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