UI soccer not short on offensive options

CHAMPAIGN — Janet Rayfield has coached some incredible goal scorers in her two-plus decades as the Illinois soccer coach.

Most of the program’s top goal scorers, in fact, considering she’s led the Illini for 23 of their 28 seasons of existence.

Tara Hurless was Rayfield’s first elite scorer. The two-time Second Team All-American set the bar rather high, scoring 47 goals in her career to take the program record from Emily Brown.

Then came the duo of Jessica Bayne and Urbana native Ella Masar, whose careers overlapped for three seasons in the mid-2000s and generated 57 combined goals. A duo that was topped not quite a decade later by Jannelle Flaws and Vanessa DiBernardo, who played two seasons together and still stand as the pinnacle of goal-scoring prowess.

DiBernardo left Illinois in 2013 with 43 career goals. Flaws broke Hurless’ program record in 2015 and set the new top mark at 53.

Goals have been fewer and further between in the ensuing decade. Flaws’ departure was followed by seasons of 16 and 13 goals. Recent scoring history isn’t with Illinois, either, with the Illini finishing 11th in the Big Ten in goals scored the past two seasons.

This year could be different.

Illinois might not have a Flaws or Hurless on the roster — at least one not yet identifiable — but the sheer number of potential scorers could make up the difference.

The Illini (2-0) head into Thursday’s 7 p.m. showdown with rival Missouri (1-1) at Demirjian Park with a Big Ten-best eight goals scored. By eight different players.

“I do think this team may have some of the best collective goal-scoring ability,” Rayfield said. “I just think we’ve added some spark to this team. We’ve had some players who have grown into themselves on an attacking side. There’s these returners that have really bought in to developing as goal scorers. Then I think we brought in a freshman class that has been involved in teams that score goals. They come in and they’re expecting to do that.”

A more productive offense was a point of emphasis this offseason. Every Monday practice in the spring included a segment dedicated solely to finishing around the goal. Juicing up the speed of play to complement the number of players comfortable at a higher pace was also an offseason focus.

“We worked really hard on finishing all spring,” Mya Archibald said. The sophomore defender — who won’t be with the team for at least a few weeks while she goes to Colombia to play for Canada at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup — is tied with Sydney Stephens for the team lead with two assists.

“We were finishing with intent,” Archibald continued. “Not just shooting, but the finishing side of things with different parts of our feet — hitting it with the outside, hitting it with the inside — and placing it. It makes the world of a difference because it takes us from winning by one goal or tying a game to winning a game by a few goals.”

Rayfield said this year’s team has taken a disciplined approach to what it does in the final third. There’s a purpose to how and why balls are played into the box. The same for the Illini’s movement in the box and with playing with a “we’re going to score goals off of this” attitude.

“No matter who’s on the field, we have a sense of what’s happening and can be on the end of things and have the commitment to get forward,” Rayfield said. “Two of our core values are trust and discipline. I think when you have those two, then you end up on that side where you’ve got a lot of different people scoring goals because they’re in the spot they’re supposed to be in and their teammates trust them.”

Lia Howard scored the winning goal in Illinois’ 2-1 home win this past Sunday against DePaul. That wasn’t much of a surprise given the junior midfielder/forward led the team in scoring in 2023. But five of Illinois’ eight goals this season have doubled as the first career goals for redshirt freshman midfielder Ashley Stellon, senior midfielder Alyssa Weede, freshman midfielder/forward Lauren Seppi, senior midfielder Sarah Hiestand and junior defender Ellen Persson.

“Everyone’s been putting work in this summer,” said junior forward Sarah Foley, who scored in Illinois’ 6-0 win against Wright State in the season opener. “This team is so accountable. I trust every single one with my whole heart. I just know when there’s opportunity, they’re putting the ball in the back of the net. We picked up a lot of good new freshmen. Even people who haven’t scored in the past that often are putting them away.”