A change of venue
The COVID-19 pandemic creates enough uncertainty from a scheduling standpoint, but it was actually something else that forced the Illinois soccer team to make the first change to its 2021 schedule. Namely Mother Nature. What has been a frigid few weeks in Champaign meant the Illini could not begin their season at the new Demirjian Park Stadium. “As we watched the weather, we went from OK, we’ll play outdoors (to) OK, we’ll play on the campus turf rec fields … and it kept on looking a little more bleak in terms of the weather,” Illinois coach Janet Rayfield said Wednesday, adding that it was Purdue coach Drew Roff, who first suggested moving what was supposed to be Saturday’s season opener against the Boilermakers to Thursday and playing the game at the Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield, Ind. The two sides agreed to such a change, with the Illini now set to play Purdue at 1 p.m. Thursday in the northernmost Indianapolis suburbs. “This is part of the play as many games as we can part of that first statement. We might have to change times. We might have to change days. We might have to change venues … to get games in.”
Been a long time coming
A 4-1 victory against Minnesota in Champaign on Oct. 27, 2019. That finale to an 9-8-1 campaign for Illinois was the last time the Illini played a soccer match. Thursday’s season opener ends a 480-day wait for Illinois after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Big Ten to cancel the fall soccer season and move it to a February start. “I can tell you right now there’s been nothing similar to kind of what we’re experiencing now. It’s definitely been an experience, for sure, and something that we’re all learning and dealing with as we go each day,” Illini senior midfielder Hope Breslin said. “But I do think there have been many positives to the situation that we’ve been dealt with. We were all here in August and ready to play our season and while that was canceled, that meant we had more training time and more time to get better as a team to learn more about each other, to get the freshmen incorporated into the team.”
Last line of defense
Jaelyn Cunningham was in net for all but 90 minutes of Illinois’ 2019 season — appearing in all 18 games — with Elizabeth Cablk the only other Illini to see time in net. With Cunningham gone, Cablk, now a senior, and Sami Sample, also a senior, are expected to split time at goalkeeper — at least early on this season, according to Rayfield. “They both may not have seen the field a ton in terms of games,” the Illinois coach said, “but they have faced college opponents for four years, three and a half years now. And so, they are more than ready to step in and hold down the fort. I think those (two) will be who we will look to lead our defense, and we’ll see over the next couple of weeks who really shines in terms of stepping out as our No. 1.”
Building a connection
Even with Kelly Maday not back, the Illini still do have two of their top three offensive options from 2019 returning. Junior Makena Silber and Breslin matched Maday with six goals apiece in 2019, with Breslin’s 17 points (thanks to five assists) one back of Maday for the team lead. The link-up play between Breslin in the midfield and Silber at forward will be key this season, a connection that has already been built. “I think as time has gone on — I’m a junior, Hope’s a senior — I think her and I have come to know each other more off the field and have developed more trust and respect for each other,” Silber said. “I think that’s translated onto the field really well. … I think our playing styles match up and complement one another really well.”
Joe Vozzelli Jr.
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