Chambana Sun

Illinois defeated Ohio State 1-0 in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday evening at Folk Field in West Lafayette, Indiana. This marks the first tournament win for the Illinois women’s soccer team since their victory over Wisconsin in penalty kicks in October 2018.

Head coach Katie Hultin commented on her team's performance: "I'm incredibly proud of the resilience we showed today. The way we were able to apply the second half adjustments was nice to see. The individual efforts on both sides of the ball were second to none. I'm really excited for the next game against Washington on Sunday!"

Goalkeeper Izzy Lee played a significant role, making 11 saves—nine of them coming in the first half—which set a new program record for single-season saves at 113, surpassing Steph Panozzo's previous record from 2012. Lee's performance also tied her for seventh-most saves in a match in school history and made her only the third Illini goalkeeper to record 11 saves in a single game.

Lee also secured her tenth shutout of the season, moving past Alexandra Kapicka’s nine clean sheets from 2008 and placing third all-time for most shutouts by an Illinois keeper in one season.

Ohio State started strong with 16 shots and nine shots on goal during the first half, but Lee stopped each attempt. In the second half, Illinois gained momentum, leading to Lia Howard capitalizing on a turnover from an Ohio State throw-in and scoring what would be the game-winning goal in the 55th minute. This was Howard’s fourth goal and second game-winner this season.

Despite being outshot by Ohio State (22-10 overall; 11-4 shots on goal), Illinois improved its record to 9-3-1 when outshot by opponents this year. Hultin is now one of three head coaches in program history to secure a Big Ten Tournament win during their debut season.

Illinois will play Washington next in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament, scheduled for Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Central Time.