After a big 3-0 victory over #19 Michigan last Thursday at home the Illini looked to keep their offense going against Michigan State on Saturday and they did just that with a decisvie 3-1 victory. Scoring has been an issue this year for Illinois and if they want to keep winning games they’ll have to keep this newfound pace and consistancy throughout the rest of the season. To put this in context, in their first fourteen games of the season the Illini scored a total of nine goals and went 3-9-1, while in their two most recent matches they’ve managed to put up six goals and win both games.
The hero of this game was forward Patricia George who scored the first two goals of the game for the Illini and brought much needed energy into the game and the stadium. Reagan Robishaw also contributed, scoring the third and final goal for Illinois to give them some breathing room in the final fifteen minutes of the game.
The Illini defense did the rest, putting great pressure on the Spartan forwards, winning individual battles and keeping possesion of the ball. Illinois goalkeeper Claire Wheatley was only called on to make two saves but got banged up in a collision that resulted in the lone goal for Michigan State.
Illinois will now hit the road for their next two games, the first at Nebraska on the 13th and then at Iowa on the 16th before returning home on the 22nd to face Wisconsin. The recent homestand has been a good time for Illinois to fix some of their lingering problems but it will remain to be seen if they can continue their offensive performance on the road over the next week.
Check out the full gallery here: [gallery goal_illini_offense_showing_signs_of_life_finally]
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