Janet Rayfield Head Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Janet Rayfield Head Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Illinois soccer will return to Demirjian Park for two Big Ten matches this week, facing No. 18 Penn State on Thursday, September 25 at 7 p.m. CT and No. 23 Ohio State on Sunday, September 28 at 1 p.m. CT. Both games will be streamed on B1G+.
The team comes into these matches with an overall record of 8-1-1 and a conference record of 1-1-1. Last week, Illinois split its west coast road trip, earning its first conference win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Oregon on September 18. Goalkeeper Izzy Lee recorded her seventh clean sheet of the season in that match, which currently leads the nation for the 2025 season.
Illinois suffered its first loss under head coach Katie Hultin in a 2-1 defeat at Washington on September 21. Cayla Jackson scored Illinois’ only goal in that game, marking her fourth goal of the season and tying her with Emma Yee for second most goals on the team.
Sarah Foley remains the leading scorer for Illinois with six goals this year, ranking third among all players in the Big Ten.
Head coach Katie Hultin has led Illinois to an historic start this season: "She's the only head coach in program history to win her first seven games in her debut season and not concede a match in her first nine games."
Izzy Lee’s performance has been notable: "She leads the Big Ten in three different categories: shutouts (seven), save percentage (0.933) and goals against average (0.316). In those stats nationally she ranks first, fifth and seventh, respectively."
Looking ahead to their opponents, Penn State enters Thursday’s match with a record of 5-3-2 overall and a conference mark of 1-1-1. The Nittany Lions have historically dominated Illinois in their meetings, holding a series lead with 31 wins out of 35 encounters.
On Sunday, Illinois will face Ohio State, which holds an overall record of 4-1-4 and is still seeking its first conference win after three draws. In their all-time series against Ohio State, Illinois trails with nine wins compared to Ohio State's fourteen.
Other notable contributors for Illinois include Emma Yee who scored twice against Valparaiso earlier this month; Ashley Stellon who leads the team with four assists; and freshmen Ashlyn Adams and Kyra Berman who have each recorded their first collegiate assists this season.
Both matches are set to take place at Demirjian Park in Champaign.
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