CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) – Illinois soccer begins their season playing five home games starting Thursday against Wright State and Sunday against DePaul.
In its 28th season, Illinois’ first game will be against Wright State at 7pm CT. Against Wright State, Illinois lead the all time series at 2-0-0 coming away with a 3-1 victory on August 4, 2010 during their last match. In 2023, Wright State went 6-7-5 with a a 4-3-3 mark in Horizon League play. Starting goalkeeper Kiera Sarka, ranked second in Horizon League with 94 saves and tied for third with six shutouts will also be making a return.
DePaul and Illinois are currently tied for the all-time series with 1-1-0 and DePaul handing Illinois a 3-1 defeat during their last match on August 23, 2018 in Chicago. DePaul went 6-7-4 last season and are returning with players Beth Smyth, Freya Jupp, and Lea Eisenring who ranked second, third, and tied for team lead respectively.
Illinois announced new players to its Watch List. These players include midfielder Kennedy Berschel who started in all 17 matches last season, defender Ella Karolak who made 35 consecutive starts over the past two seasons, and defender Mya Archibald who made 16 starts and scored the match-winning goal against Loyola in August of 2023. The Fighting Illini soccer program will also welcome 12 newcomers, including 10 freshmen to the 2024 roster.
“They come from winning programs, they are driven to win and they are coming to Illinois to help us win. They each have special talents and unique strengths to bring to the field and their collective competitive mentality will help us enter the new Big Ten conference poised to compete and expecting to win,” said head coach Janet Rayfield.