:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71256422/Galo_Round_Barns.0.jpg)
Note: I once again got wild some coding. If some things aren’t showing up or it is generally rendered unreadable (which is very likely if you are on mobile), click here for a simplified version.
Illini soccer is back for the 26th time in 2022 where they’ll be looking to rebound after a dismal 2021. A couple of early dominant rivalry wins against Illinois State and Mizzou weren’t enough to salvage a season where the Illini finished 13th in the Big Ten. A particularly worrisome detail about this is that it seemingly came out of nowhere.
See, one of the few benefits of the coronavirus pandemic is that the NCAA extended eligibility to athletes whose seasons were cut short, allowing college programs to stack talent and experience. Illinois was no exception, keeping star attacker Hope Breslin and midfield stalwart Maggie Hillman around for a sixth year. Granted, the squad would have some youth sprinkled throughout it, but overall, it looked to be at worst a middling team who could sniff an NCAA berth.
That wasn’t particularly close to happening, and identifying the root problems of this will likely go a long way in predicting how the 2022 team is going to look. To my dumb soccer mind, I think I’ve identified three major issues with last year’s team:
- Goalkeeping. Illinois entered 2021 knowing they’d be inexperienced in the back, and boy did that come back to haunt them. Soccer is a game of such fine margins that one or two silly mistakes in the back can turn a positive result into a loss, which definitely happened twice last season (@ Indiana, vs. Purdue) for Illinois.
- The back line. In the 2021 spring covid season, Illinois used a fairly sturdy back 4 who all returned for the fall. Rayfield decided to tinker with it a bit, and the results at times weren’t ideal. Although I don’t expect them to be perfect, the communication and marking broke down too many times. Again, it’s a game of fine margins, so it only takes one missed mark to turn a game on its head.
- The midfield. Illinois could not control the midfield, and as any pundit will tell you, the game is won and lost in the midfield.
Coaching careers are made and broken figuring out how to control the midfield tactically, but for Illinois, I think it was just a numbers game (again, dumb soccer mind, so take this with a grain of salt). The Illini exclusively used a traditional 4-3-3. The benefit is that if you can somehow control the middle of the park with your three midfielders, you’ll have a numbers advantage up front. However, since most other formations use 4 or even 5 midfielders, this is a tall task, especially when Maggie Hillman was out with injury. Often, the wingers up front will drop back to provide support, but that wasn’t exactly a strength of theirs.
So that’s why I think Rayfield once again shifts her formation, this time to a more conservative 4-4-2. This will hopefully even things up more in the middle, which should take some pressure off the back 4, which should mean fewer clear-cut chances for the opposition, which should mean less mistakes from the goalkeepers. Granted, this means one less attacker up front, but the roster has enough attacking talent that this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Based on this 4-4-2 formation, it’s time to figure out where everyone fits into it. We’ll work back to front. Also, I planned on using headshots from the Illini soccer website, and a couple days out from the first regular season match, the roster page is still a mess. If it gets updated, I’ll update this article as well. Just click on a box to see a rundown on each player. (This is where the coding may go caput, so once again, click here for the simplified version.)
Goalkeepers
Julia Cili
#1
Julia Cili
After two years, I’m not entirely sure what to make of Cili. I have no stats to back this up, but I think other goalkeepers are more likely to make a save against a half-decent chance (like say, an attacker free on a breakaway) than Cili. Although she has made a spectacular save or two, it isn’t a regular occurrence. On the other hand, she isn’t prone to unforced errors, and she’s reasonably skilled with the ball at her feet. She isn’t likely going to win you any games single-handedly, but she also isn’t going to single-handedly lose you any either. You’re probably going to take that over the alternative.
Naomi Jackson
#0
Naomi Jackson
Jackson’s freshman year was an adventure. Due to Cili suffering an injury, Jackson was thrust into action on the road against Michigan, where she put up one of the best goalkeeping performances in Illini history to keep Illinois in it. Then, she made a completely unforced error against Purdue which led to the Boilermakers’ game-winner and had a fairly tame shot go straight through her gloves to gift an equalizer to the Hoosiers (who went on and scored another she probably should’ve saved). The talent is definitely there. The consistency…not so much. We’ll slot her in as the back up for now, but I wouldn’t be shocked if she takes over the starting role with a bit of development.
Izzy Lee
#30
Izzy Lee
I don’t know, she’s a freshman? She’s from Lyons Township, was a state runner up, and was second-team all-state. She is inexperienced, so I wouldn’t expect her to get a whole lot of playing time.
Jamie Pernecky
#25
Jamie Pernecky
Another freshman, so another short blurb. She’s from Pasadena where she was on the same club team as Summer Garrison. Again, I wouldn’t expect her to get a whole lot of tick, but if both she and Lee stick around for a couple years, we could be in for a fun goalkeeper battle.
Defenders
Ashley Cathro
#33
Ashley Cathro
The Canadian was one of the few bright spots in a dismal 2021. She’s so freaking good. She’s always been quick and tough as nails one-on-one, but she’s now experienced and has shown a willingness to get forward into the attack. If you were writing predictions about a starting lineup, you can go ahead and sharpie her in as the left fullback. As for everyone else, you’ll need to use a pencil.
Aleah Treiterer
#11
Aleah Treiterer
She’s probably in the starting lineup, but I’m not entirely sure where. She was one of the center halves in Spring of 2021, but she got shuffled around a bit and eventually landed at right fullback in the fall. She was pretty decent over there. She doesn’t have blazing speed, so she’s not perfect there for the modern game, but she has shown some attacking prowess (see: her gorgeous assist to Sydney Stephens against Iowa last season). She’s also not a prototypical physically imposing center half, so she isn’t an absolutely perfect fit for the middle of the back line. I like her there as opposed to out near the sidelines because you want consistency and experience in the middle, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see her play some fullback. It’s good to have versatile pieces, and Treiterer is one of them.
Angie Galo
#19
Angie Galo
She looked like a talented freshman last year. She had plenty of silly mistakes, but she also showed some play beyond her years, particularly with cutting passes. I’m listing her as a defender for now because that’s all she’s played in college and that’s what she is on the roster, but I wouldn’t mind seeing her as a defensive mid. That way, if the silly mistakes are still there, there’s still a line of defense behind her to mitigate them and she’ll be closer to the front to feed attackers. If she has gotten some of the mistakes out of her system, she’s gonna be a center half likely.
Eileen Murphy
#3
Eileen Murphy
Listed as a midfielder, played as a centerback all last season, so I’m grouping her with the defenders. With size, a ton of power, and plenty of speed to boot, she’s the most impressive athlete on the team. She’s not amazing with the ball at her feet usually, but she can uncork a howitzer of a shot here or there. Her decision making isn’t anything to write home about either. Really, she’s in there to win some headers, whether that’s clearing her box, shuttling along a clearance in the middle of the park, or pounding home a set piece. You can’t keep that kind of game changer off the field, so it’s just a matter of figuring out where to slot her in. Ideally, she’s at defensive mid, where she can venture forward at times and has a safety net behind her if she gets the ball pilfered out from under her feet.
Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal
#21
Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal
Somehow when the music stopped playing in the back line last season, JVD was the one usually without a chair. She played most if not all possible minutes in the spring season and saw spot duty last year. Although she did attack a tiny bit in her time as the 6 last year, I still like her paired with Treiterer as a center half like in the spring.
Summer Garrison
#26
Summer Garrison
The Swiss army knife of the past few seasons of Illini soccer. She’s listed as a forward but exclusively played right fullback last season. She was serviceable there, particularly in one-on-ones where she could reverse engineer her attacking instincts to win challenges. However, she had a few issues identifying runs in behind, which cased some problems. Couple that with not exactly blazing speed and she doesn’t quite fit at right back. I’m not sure where she fits exactly on the field, but she is an option in the back if necessary.
Mackenzie Schuler
#5
Mackenzie Schuler
Now that there’s depth at the position, I think Schuler’s collegiate goalkeeping career may be over despite her giving up no goals. The stats sheet may say she had no saves, but we’ll all remember her play in the first 5 minutes against North Carolina last season. Anyway, she saw a little time in the outfield at right back last season but not enough for me to really get a feel for what kind of player she is.
Alexa Joshi
#6
Alexa Joshi
Joshi didn’t see the field last season, so I don’t know what she’s like as a player. However, her great uncle is Coach K, she goes to Illinois, and she was part of a team that got stomped 5-1 by the Tar Heels last season, so she might be the person who hates UNC the most.
Ellen Persson
#35
Ellen Persson
She’s Swedish and comes out of the Houston Dynamo academy. Otherwise, I have nothing on her except she has the name that feels like it came out of the late stages of the FIFA05 career mode where they’re desperately trying to come up with names for fake players.
Midfielders
Lillian Lucas
#14
Lillian Lucas
The senior hasn’t seen time on the field a whole lot during her Illini career yet (she’s been undersized, not very quick, and didn’t have the proper experience/wiliness, so it makes sense), but when she does, she isn’t afraid to launch bombs on the opposing goalkeeper from deep. It’s always nice to have confident players at your disposal, and if she can develop the craftiness to match, she could work her way into the rotation.
Sydney Stephens
#28
Sydney Stephens
She may be listed as a sophomore, but she doesn’t play like a sophomore. Her touch on the ball is superb, she led the team in assists last season, and scored Illinois’ prettiest goal last season, putting a header in the top corner against Iowa. Her attacking skills are definitely up to snuff. If I had to nitpick, it’s that she was often exactly a step slow on defense last season. Don’t get me wrong, she’s got decent speed and athleticism, but she would be consistently a step away from making an interception. The positive part is that she’s at least reading the flow of the game, which is impressive for someone listed as a freshman. She either needs to add a tiny bit more acceleration or have those synapses fire a couple microseconds quicker, which is something that happens when freshmen become sophomores. Anyway, she’s probably as starting center mid, and if Rayfield does go with the 4-4-2 and differentiates between the middlest of midfielders, Stephens would be the more attacking one.
Kendra Pasquale
#12
Kendra Pasquale
She’s listed as a defender but played exclusively in the midfield and forward lines last season. As I say about her every year, she’s surprisingly quick and has a cannon for a left leg. She started her Illini career playing very effectively as a modern left fullback, getting forward in the attack, but that happened when Cathro was out injured. Again, assuming a 4-4-2 formation, I *think* she’ll just move up a line and be the starting left midfielder, but Kenny should also see time as a center mid and maybe a little time as a forward as well. Wherever she goes, she’s going to torch some defenders and score a few golazos from deep.
Ella Karolak
#13
Ella Karolak
The Michigan native didn’t get a whole lot of time her freshman season, which makes sense considering she’s the likely heir apparent to Eileen Murphy as a physical presence in the back of the formation. Her touch and decision making weren’t quite there, but that’s also true of Murphy. The big difference is that Murphy is just bigger, stronger, and faster than Karolak, so she got the majority of the minutes. Give it time and Karolak should carve out a place in the rotation.
Kennedy Berschel
#32
Kennedy Berschel
After getting plenty of minutes her freshman year (for reasons I didn’t quite understand), Berschel was used sparingly her sophomore season (for reason I don’t quite understand). At 5-foot-2, she is tied for being the smallest player on the roster, so saying she’s undersized is a bit of an understatement. However, she makes it work. She’s still fairly strong, and she is incredible at bringing the ball down and controlling it. Her decision making, while not astounding, is above average, which is what you want in the middle of the park. Although I don’t think she’ll be starting, I do think she should see the field more this season, especially if Rayfield uses a formation with more midfielders.
Sarah Hiestand
#17
Sarah Hiestand
She’s on the roster as a sophomore, but the program made no announcement about her. At 5-10, she’s the tallest outfield player on the roster, and a quick google search shows that she’s the daughter of Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand.
Maddie Mariani
#9
Maddie Mariani
The sophomore saw a decent amount of action as a freshman, usually in a relief role. She didn’t really do much good or bad then, which overall should be considered a general positive for a freshman playing the 6. You’ll generally take responsibility over chaos in the middle of the park, and that’s what you’re getting with Mariani.
Alyssa Weede
#2
Alyssa Weede
She did not see the field at all her freshman season. I can’t really find anything noteworthy about her online either. Her dad attended Illinois? Is that anything? I feel bad about this one. Alright, I’m in her corner. If she does something on the field, I’ll be celebrating the hell out of it on twitter.
Sarah Foley
#18
Sarah Foley
There’s always a special place in my heart for Illini from southern Illinois. Foley is out of Belleville West, played her club soccer with Lou Fusz, and spent recent summers playing for Fire & Ice in the WPSL. Despite playing with and against mostly college and semi-pro players, Foley was easily the Brittneys’ most creative and enterprising attacking force. Now, with a glut of talented forwards in front of her, I don’t know how much playing time she’ll get, but she’s definitely a good piece to have for the future.
Regan Moody
#27
Regan Moody
Another player from southern Illinois? What’s going on? I have three things on her: like Foley, she also played for Fire and Ice, but she signed this spring so I don’t have a scouting report on her. Second, she owns the IHSA record for most goals in a state championship game with 4. Third, she’s planning on studying biology and mathematics. I have indifference towards biology, but the mathematics thing rules (I may or may not have a degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois).
Ashley Stellon
#16
Ashley Stellon
A freshman I have nothing on. In the signing day article, Rayfield described her as a box-to-box midfielder who can pass. Those are some nice attributes.
Lia Howard
#22
Lia Howard
Listed as a midfielder/forward, and since there’s a glut of forwards, we’ll include her with the midfielders. She’s undersized at 5-2 but was the player of the year in New York, so I’m fascinated to see what sort of magic she can pull on the pitch. The other important note is that she’s out of Massepequa, which might sound familiar because that’s where Hope Breslin hails from.
Forwards
Makena Silber
#20
Makena Silber
Mak returns for her sixth season which really elevates the attack. Her burst and power are something to behold, and her decision making took a step forward last season. I wouldn’t say she’s creative with the ball at her feet, but she’s very good at making runs in behind the back line and blazing past defenders on the break. She’s a joy to watch, and if I had to guess, she’ll probably be playing professionally somewhere this time next year. You can go ahead and put her down as a starting forward.
Maeve Jones
#23
Maeve Jones
Jones had a decent freshman season, putting in 3 goals while adjusting to the college game. The highly regarded recruit definitely has some deficiencies in her game, particularly with loose first touches, but that can be fixed with development and experience. What she does have in spades is a striker’s instinct. She just intrinsically knows where the danger is and how she should exploit it. She may need a little more polish to turn that into numbers, but she’s definitely Illinois’ striker of the future and probably a starting striker now.
Abby Lynch
#10
Abby Lynch
The ultimate change of pace. The part-time cross country has blazing speed that can break opposing back lines, particularly if she’s coming off the bench late in a half. After a promising start to her freshman season, she caught the injury bug and didn’t see the field. If she’s fully recovered, I can see her both as a small forward matched with a larger forward to play off or just streaking up and down the touch line as a right winger.
Zoey Kollhoff
#15
Zoey Kollhoff
Like Berschel, she saw Kollhoff saw decent minutes her freshman year which tapered off for some reason her sophomore year. While I don’t think she’ll be a started, I do think she’ll be an effective piece off the bench, utilizing her athleticism, instincts, and skill to punish tired defenses. Her game is well-rounded enough to where I wouldn’t be surprised if she worked her way into the starting lineup or at least starter’s minutes.
Julia Eichenbaum
#24
Julia Eichenbaum
After lighting up the Friday Night Lights series in Fall of 2020, I went all in on Eichenbaum. It hasn’t quite translated to play against other teams, however. She hasn’t seen the field much, and when she has, she’s been outpaced and outmuscled by the opposition. The good news is that outpacing and outmuscling defenses hasn’t been her game. She relies on finding angles and exploiting gaps in a defense to receive passes, which is much more difficult to do as a wing in a 4-3-3. If she’s in a 2-forward formation, however, I think she can thrive.
Makala Woods
#4
Makala Woods
For most of last season, Woods stayed firmly on the bench, which seemed baffling considering how badly everything was going on the field. However, when she did see some minutes in the final game of the season, that decision made sense. Reports from her summer league play cited her incredible speed, and that showed up. However, she only delivered hospital passes that would barely get to another teammate in her few minutes of play with Illinois. It’s a small sample size, so maybe it was just an off day for her. I do think she has a place on this team, just maybe not as a forward. If I remember correctly, during the first 2020 Fall scrimmage, she put Hope Breslin in a torture chamber playing as a fullback. Once Cathro graduates, I think Woods might get a look at left fullback.
Ashley Prell
#8
Ashley Prell
Spent most of last year recovering from an ACL tear but did make a cameo during the final match of the season. She’s still built like a beanpole and possesses a fairly powerful shot from range.
Abby Zugay
#7
Abby Zugay
She’s from Ann Arbor and played on the same club team as Lucas and Karolak. Rayfield described her as quick and relentless when she signed on, which are nice qualities to have in an attacker.
Ashley Prell
#8
Ashley Prell
Spent most of last year recovering from an ACL tear but did make a cameo during the final match of the season. She’s still built like a beanpole and possesses a fairly powerful shot from range.
Abby Zugay
#7
Abby Zugay
After lighting up the Friday Night Lights series in Fall of 2020, I went all in on Eichenbaum. It hasn’t quite translated to play against other teams, however. She hasn’t seen the field much, and when she has, she’s been outpaced and outmuscled by the opposition. The good news is that outpacing and outmuscling defenses hasn’t been her game. She relies on finding angles and exploiting gaps in a defense to receive passes, which is much more difficult to do as a wing in a 4-3-3. If she’s in a 2-forward formation, however, I think she can thrive.
You’re probably looking for a tentative starting lineup now, which I’ll try to throw together. I’m guessing Cili is the starting keeper. Murphy is going to be on the field, but I like her more as a defensive midfielder. That probably means it’s Cathro-JVD-Galo-Treiterer across the back line. As for the other midfielders, I’d pencil in Stephens as the CAM. Pasquale is going to be on the field, and she probably makes the most sense out on the left wing. I don’t really have a clue who would be out on the right wing, but I think I only mentioned the position once in all that above. By default, I’ll give the spot to Lynch. To round things out, I’ll pencil in Jones and Silber up front. To recap in vaguely visual form:
Jones – Silber
Pasquale – Stephens – Murphy – Lynch
Cathro – JVD – Galo – Treiterer
Cili
Schedule
Illinois faces a fairly kind non-conference slate. It starts tamely with Illinois State making the short drive over to Urbana tonight followed by Toledo this Sunday which doubles as Jaelyn Cunningham’s homecoming. Both are towards the bottom of their respective conferences, so while they aren’t cupcakes, they should be fairly comfortable. The schedule then ramps up as the Illini head over to Indiana to visit Butler and Notre Dame. Both the Bulldogs and Irish were tournament teams last year, so this is where we’ll start to find out what this Illini team actually is.
The non-conference finishes up with a fascinating 4-match homestand. None of the teams are powerhouses, but they still should be challenging. It starts against Texas A&M, who was at the bottom of the SEC last season, followed by the Sycamores of Indiana State, who are picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley this season. The next week sees Mizzou and Loyola-Chicago make the fairly short trips over to Demirjian. The Tigers were fellow SEC cellar dwellers with the Aggies last year, and Loyola was the middling MVC’s auto bid to the dance (they are joining the A10 this season).
The Big Ten schedule is exceptionally kind as well. As usual, each team plays 10 matches, so they skip 3 other teams. Illinois’ skips are Michigan, Indiana, and Rutgers. Now, Indiana is middling at best, but Michigan and Rutgers are excellent teams to duck out on considering Rutgers won every single match in league play last year and Michigan sits in ninth in the preseason poll.
Now, you might say that this only matters if the Illini are making a run at a conference title, and that sort of thinking seems wildly optimistic. This is very true for a team that finished 13th in the B1G last year, but I do have a few pieces of evidence that support some hope. Somehow, throughout the approximately 4000 words preceding this, I never mentioned the matches the Illini have already played.
Granted, you shouldn’t base everything off preseason, but from what little information I’ve seen about the two matches, Illinois looks good. They stomped EIU 5-0 and beat #4 Virginia 2-1 over 120 minutes. I’m not going to base everything off scorelines, but Illinois thoroughly pounded a Panther team they struggled with during last year’s preseason. Also, from what I can tell, Illinois played the Hoos fairly evenly as well, so a 2-1 win wasn’t a very fluky final score.
Whatever the case may be, Illinois looks like it has the team to rebound from a dismal 2021. We start to find out how far they rise from the ashes tonight.
Illinois takes on Illinois State on Thursday at Demirjian Park. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. with coverage on BTN+.
Loading comments...