Soccer remains winless in Big Ten

Read more about the Illinois soccer team on Brian Moline's blog here.

CHAMPAIGN – The Illinois soccer team failed to find the back of the net Sunday in a 1-0 soccer loss to Wisconsin.

The Badgers, who had lost seven straight against Illinois (5-5-3) dating back to 2002, got the winner from Laurie Nosbusch in the 60th minute.

Keeper Alexandra Kapicka made four saves for the Illini.

"When we battle and play, we're as good as anybody," UI coach Janet Rayfield said. "But today we didn't show up to play. A lot of credit to Wisconsin – they came in here with energy and fight, and they outfought us today. It's disappointing we couldn't match that energy."

Illinois, which remains winless in the Big Ten with an 0-2-2 record, was outshot 14-8 and did not record a shot on goal.

"We have a team that I know wants to go after a Big Ten title, but they've got to figure out a way to play like that ... We have to fight for every single win we can get from here on out, and hopefully we can give ourselves a chance to have a postseason."

Illinois had two close calls from inside the box, one in each half, but could not find the back of the net. Senior Courtney Bell (33rd minute) and junior Jordan Hilbrands (49th minute) had shots sail over the goal.

Hilbrands, Chichi Nweke and freshman Shayla Mutz each had two shots apiece to lead the Illini.

In women's tennis:

Doubles team second. The Illini doubles team of Kristina Minor and Christine Stromberg saw its undefeated run at the Kentucky Invitational end in the Flight B title match. The duo lost to Vanderbilt's Erica Robertson and Heather Steinbauer 8-4 at Lexington, Ky., to finish second with a 3-1 record.

In singles, Illinois sophomore Amy Allin won the Flight B consolation bracket with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Kari Wig of Michigan. Stromberg also reached a singles consolation final, the senior losing to Maria Fuccillo of Virginia 6-1, 6-4 in Flight D.

"Christine played well in her first matches of the fall," UI coach Michelle Dasso said. "I was proud of the way she competed. But as a team, we have a lot of work ahead of us and are not satisfied with this tournament."

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