CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois soccer (8-8-2, 4-6-1) ended the 2024 season with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Northwestern (6-10-3, 1-8-2) today at Demirjian Park.
Three second half goals from the Illini helped the Orange and Blue to their first win over the Wildcats since April 3, 2021, snapping a three-match winless run.
Northwestern would open the scoring in the eighth minute after an attempted clearance by the Illini could only find a Wildcat attacker, who was able to fire the ball into an empty net following a scramble for the loose ball.
Illinois keeper Izzy Lee would make a pair of saves in the 12th and 20th minutes to keep the deficit at one as the hosts began to work their way into match.
Following an introduction of five players at the half-hour mark, it looked as if it would only be a matter of time until the Illini would find their equalizer, with each attacking move getting more and more dangerous.
In the 36th minute, Illinois would win a free kick in a dangerous position just outside of the penalty. Emma Yee would take the set piece, with her curling effort beating the keeper, but striking the post. Alyssa Weede was quickest to the rebound and had a simple tap-in to make it 1-1.
The two sides would go into the break all square, with Northwestern holding a slim 7-6 advantage in shots.
The Illini would start the second half of the front foot and the early pressure would pay dividends in the 51st minute. Sarah Hiestand intercepted the ball at midfield and four passes later, the ball would find Sarah Foley. Foley would turn away from her marker expertly, then playing it to Lia Howard in the penalty area. Howard then back-heeled the ball into space for Foley, who had continued her run, and the junior slid the ball underneath the keeper and into the net for her 11th goal of the season, making it 2-1 Illinois.
Foley ends the season with goals in three-straight matches, and her 11 goals are the most by an Illini in a single season since Jannelle Flaws tallied 15 in 2015. Her 22 points are also the most since Flaws recorded 28 in 2015. The Belleville, Ill., native, also earned her sixth game-winning goal of the season, tied for second-most in the conference and the most in program history since Vanessa DiBernardo had eight in 2011.
In the 64th minute, Lee would make a spectacular reaction save on a header at close range to keep Illinois ahead in the match.
That save would prove to be vital, as just 38 seconds later, Emma Yee made it 3-1, when her first-time shot from outside the area took a deflection off of a Wildcat defender and looped into the net for her first-career goal.
In the 77th minute, Weede tried to spring free Abby Lynch with a through ball, with Lynch running free through the middle. Lynch’s run forced the Northwestern keeper to come off of her line to make a clearance attempt, but the ball struck a defender and landed in the back of the net, to make it 4-1.
The Illini would see out the rest of the match, earning the win over their in-state rivals.
