By Gargoyle sports staff

Posted Friday, April 6, 2007, The OG, sports & girls soccer

Junior Suran Yoo races for the ball.

(Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)

MONTICELLO — Heading into Thursday's road game against Monticello, the Illineks had lost eight consecutive matches to varsity competition, a streak that began last year with a 7-0 loss to Mahomet-Seymour on April 25.

The sole bright spot during that span was a 1-0 win over Champaign Central's JV on May 10.

But the losing streak came to an end Thursday as the Illineks tied the host Sages 2-2 in a nonconference game marked by gusty winds and winterlike temperatures.

Uni is now 0-2-1 on the season. Monticello is 1-3-2.

The Illineks controlled possession for most of the game. Sparked by freshmen Erika Belmont and Michelle Wong, Uni was able to maintain strong offensive pressure during both halves, something the Illineks were unable to do during their first two matches of the season, a 2-1 loss to St. Thomas More in their season opener and a 3-0 loss to Class AA Centennial.

Uni's rejuvenated offense was due in part to head coach Phil Anders' decision to free up junior forward Suran Yoo by moving her to a side position, where she would have more room to create scoring opportunities, and putting Belmont in the center spot.

Belmont gave Uni its first lead of the year when she scored with 12:10 left in the first half. After finding an opening in the Sage defense, Belmont broke away for a clear shot on goal, handily beating Monticello's keeper. The hosts argued that Uni was offsides, but the officials quickly ruled that the goal counted.

“Getting up 1-0 was something new to us,” Anders said.

The Illineks may have eased up a bit after taking the lead as Monticello began to shift the action down to Uni's end of the field.

Senior goalkeeper Mandy Grill turned in another strong game, making key saves and directing the defense with instructions and encouragement. But about 4 minutes before halftime, the Illineks gave up a breakaway opportunity to the Sages, who capitalized to even the score.

For the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, both teams had several scoring chances, and both goalkeepers came up with big saves. Eventually, with 18:12 remaining, Monticello took the lead on another breakaway goal.

Uni continued to put pressure on the Sages. With about 6 minutes left, Belmont launched a powerful shot on goal, but the Monticello keeper made an outstanding save. Another Uni loss seemed imminent as the clock ticked down to less than 5 minutes to play.

But the Illinek offense persisted. Wong, who always seemed to be in the middle of the action with her passing and playmaking, narrowly missed on a shot of her own. Sophomore Joy Shapley followed up and scored the tying goal with just 4:28 left.

The Illineks withstood one final push by the Sages, who swarmed in front of Grill. The Uni defense, led by senior Krista Olson, managed to clear the ball out of harm's way before time expired.

“Overall, I was very happy with the game,” said Anders. “We were able to pass the ball and put more people on the attack.”

Shapley is no stranger to doing well against Monticello. Last season she scored the only goal in Uni's 1-0 victory over the visiting Sages.

Next for the Illineks: The team will travel to Charleston on Tuesday to play the Class AA Lady Trojans at 4:30 p.m. The game will be a good measuring stick for the squad. Uni lost to Charleston 5-0 last season despite a remarkable 21-save performance by Grill.

VARSITY RECORD: 0-2-1 overall

(Games at DCR Fields are in bold)

Season Preview: Illineks look for improvement as season begins today

March 28: St. Thomas More, L 2-1

— Illinek scoring recap: Michelle Wong (penalty kick, first half)

— story: Uni drops season opener

March 30: Centennial, L 3-0

— Illinek scoring recap: no goals

— story: History is repeated in 3-0 loss to Centennial

April 3: Urbana, game canceled because of wet field conditions (will not be rescheduled)

April 5: at Monticello, T 2-2

— Illinek scoring recap: Erika Belmont (first half); Joy Shapley (second half)

— story: see above

Remaining games: see schedule

(Note: Add St. Thomas More to the schedule, 4:30 p.m. April 17, DCR Fields)