Aug. 21, 2009

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 17 Illinois soccer team started fast and never looked back in its home opener, scoring two goals in the first five minutes to cruise to a 4-0 win over Illinois State on Friday at the Illinois Soccer Stadium. The four goals were the most the Illini have scored in a match since defeating Iowa 6-0 on Oct. 7, 2007.

"It's great to start the season with a shutout and score some goals," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "At halftime we had four shots and three goals, which shows we have the potential to be very productive on offense this year. Last year there were some games we outshot our opponents, but came away with a loss. Hopefully that changes this season. Tonight we saw that we definitely have the ability to score goals, which will be essential for us this year, especially with our tough schedule."

Sophomore Marissa Mykines scored the first goal of the 2009 season in the third minute after she found herself wide open in the midfield, catching the ISU defense off guard and firing a shot from 30 yards out to the lower right corner of the goal.

"Marissa's shot was a rocket," Rayfield said. "She's going to be a dangerous weapon for us this year."

Junior Jordan Hilbrands scored less than a minute and a half after Mykines to give the Illini an early 2-0 lead. After receiving a pass from junior Christina Sahly on the left flank, Hilbrands beat Illinois State goalkeeper Sasha Reiber to the far post from the top of the box.

Illinois' third goal came in the 37th minute. After subbing into the match to make her college debut in the 36th minute, freshman forward Shayla Mutz was taken down by an ISU defender inside the box. Junior Krystin Miller was called upon to take the penalty kick, scoring to the upper left for her first career goal and giving the Illini a 3-0 lead at half.

Freshman forward Niki Read also scored the first goal of her Orange and Blue career on an assist from senior midfielder Courtney Bell. In the 73rd, Read received the ball on the left side, dribbling around Reiber to score on an open goal.

Miller came up big in for the Illini again in the 54th minute, heading away Kelly Rosenthal's shot on goal to preserve the Illini shutout. Senior goalkeeper Alexandra Kapicka faced 10 shots in the game, coming up with four saves to record the 10th shutout of her career.

For the match, the Illini out-shot the Redbirds 18 to 10 as Sahly and Hilbrands each had two shots on goal to lead Illinois. Reiber finished with four saves, three of which came in the second half. ISU also committed 13 fouls to Illinois' five.

Illinois travels to Denver next weekend for two matches at the DU Invitational. The Fighting Illini will face Colorado on Friday, Aug. 28 and Denver on Sunday, Aug. 30. The next Orange and Blue home game is set for Friday, Sept. 4, when they host No. 5 UCLA at 7 p.m. at the Illinois Soccer Stadium.