URBANA — After starting the season 2-0 with first-ever wins over Centennial and St. Thomas More, the Illineks ran into roadblocks last week when they faced Urbana and Monticello.

Uni visited its hometown neighbor on Tuesday in a nonconference game and lost 2-0 to the Class AA Tigers.

The Illineks' scoring drought continued two days later as they tied Monticello 0-0 in a nonconference match at the DCR Soccer Complex. On the plus side, the contest marked senior Sarah Pfander's first shutout as varsity goalkeeper. She has allowed only five goals in four games.

Uni's varsity record is now 2-1-1. Things won't get any easier for the Illineks on Tuesday when they host Class AA power Charleston.

April 1: Uni visits Urbana

Last year's game with the Tigers was rained out, so the Illineks were looking forward to playing Urbana for the first time under second-year head coach Phil Anders.

The conditions were cold and windy, but at least the field was dry, unlike Uni's game against St. Thomas More on March 27. Both teams played a physical style, with neither squad able to maintain possession for long.

Urbana, enjoying the wind at its back, was able to get on the scoreboard first when Luna Pierson converted on a corner kick in the 14th minute.

"Even with the wind not in our favor, we were able to move the ball upfield and attack the Urbana goal, and were unlucky with a number of chances," said Anders.

The teams went into halftime with the Tigers maintaining their 1-0 lead. Pfander made nine saves for Uni during the first 40 minutes, while her Urbana counterpart, Aubrey Morse, made seven.

Urbana expanded its advantage to 2-0 nine minutes into the second half. Anders described the circumstances leading up to the goal: "With both teams fighting a physical battle for possession of the ball, we were called for a questionable impeding call, in which we had possession of the ball and cleared it before the call was made. Following the missed free kick, which positioned Urbana in our half, we were unable to clear the ball a second time from our penalty area, and Urbana capitalized."

Uni continued to apply pressure, putting eight shots on goal in the second half compared to seven for Urbana. But Morse was able to keep the ball out of the Tigers' net without much difficulty, and Urbana came away with the shutout victory.

"Our ball possession was slightly off," Anders said, "and the shot selection did little to challenge the Urbana goalkeeper."

For the game, Uni finished with 15 shots on goal, Urbana 17. Pfander and Morse each recorded 15 saves.

In JV action, Urbana defeated Uni 1-0.

Junior Sheri Grill made two saves in the first half, including a one-on-one near the end of the half, to keep Urbana off the scoreboard. Junior Lor Sligar took over the goalkeeping duties in the second half and made four saves, including several more one-on-ones.

With three minutes left in the game, the teams seemed to headed toward a 0-0 tie, but then Urbana's Esraa Odeh scored the winning goal in a counterattack as Uni's right defender and center were caught out of position.

"Our JV had a physical battle for possession, which placed us for most of the game in the Urbana JV half," Anders said. "We created chances in front of the goal, but could not finish. Urbana's counterattack, similar to the varsity game, disrupted our ability to build a solid attack. "

The loss evened out the JV record to 1-1-1.

April 3: Uni hosts Monticello

Two days later, the Illineks resumed a budding rivalry with Monticello. Last year the teams played twice, with Uni coming back in the first game to tie the Sages 2-2, and Monticello winning the rematch 2-0 in the Class A playoffs.

In Thursday's game, Uni outshot the visiting Sages 4-2 in the first half but could not create any solid scoring opportunities, according to Anders.

Although Monticello opened the second half with a shot on goal that narrowly missed, the Illineks dominated possession, outshooting the Sages 14-3 in the final 40 minutes and winning five corner kicks to Monticello's one.

But as Anders pointed out after the game, "weak shot selection, near misses, and failure to convert opportunities" resulted in a scoreless tie. Uni hit the goalposts three times in the second half and Monticello once.

In JV, Uni and Monticello played to a 1-1 tie. Freshman Revathi Maturi scored an unassisted goal in the first 40 seconds to give Uni a 1-0 lead.

"Again, Uni seemed to control the game in Monticello's half, and midway through the second half had a chance to seal the win, when a Monticello defender was called for handling the ball in the penalty box," Anders said. "However, those goal posts seemed to have a mind of their own on this evening, as sophomore Katie Buzard's PK hit the crossbar."

In the final minute of the game, Monticello's Kilmeny Barnell took advantage of a Uni defensive clearance error in front of the goal to tie the game.

Sligar played the first half as goalkeeper, making one save. Grill had two saves in the second half.

The JV record is now 1-1-2.

2008 SEASON AT A GLANCE

GIRLS VARSITY SOCCER: 2-1-1 overall, 0-0 East Central Illinois Conference
(home matches listed in bold)

March 25: at Centennial, W 2-1

• Story: Believe it! Uni begins season with upset of Centennial varsity
• Halftime: Centennial 1, Uni 0
• Uni goals: Erika Belmont (53rd minute), Joy Shapley assist; Aran Yoo (75th minute), Isaure Hostetter assist
• Uni saves: Sarah Pfander 13 (4, 9)
• Shots on goal: Uni 14 (8, 6); Centennial 14 (5, 9)
• JV result: Uni 0, Centennial 0
• JV Uni goals: None
• JV Uni saves: Sheri Grill 2; Lor Sligar 4
• JV shots on goal: Uni 4 (1, 3); Centennial 6 (2, 4)
• Game stats: Gargoyle scoreboard

March 27: St. Thomas More, W 3-2

• Story: Uni makes up two-goal deficit to beat St. Thomas More
• Halftime: STM 1, Uni 0
• Uni goals: Aran Yoo (51st minute), Suran Yoo assist; A. Yoo (61st minute), S. Yoo assist; Michelle Wong (65th minute), Elizabeth Russell assist
• Uni saves: Sarah Pfander 9 (7, 2)
• Shots on goal: Uni 19 (7, 12); STM 11 (8, 3)
• JV result: Uni 3, STM 0
• JV Uni goals: Katie Buzard (18th minute), Katayun Salehi assist; Emma Coverdill (26th minute), Revathi Maturi assist; Coverdill (27th minute), Maturi assist
• JV Uni saves: Lor Sligar 2; Sheri Grill 1
• JV shots on goal: Uni 9 (4, 5); STM 3 (2, 1)
• Game stats: Gargoyle scoreboard

April 1: at Urbana, L 2-0

• Story: Urbana loss, Monticello tie sidetrack Illineks
• Halftime: Urbana 1, Uni 0
• Uni goals: None
• Uni saves: Sarah Pfander 15 (9, 6)
• Shots on goal: Uni 15 (7, 8); Urbana 17 (10, 7)
• JV result: Urbana 1, Uni 0
• JV Uni goals: None
• JV Uni saves: Sheri Grill 2; Lor Sligar 4
• JV shots on goal: Uni 8 (3, 5); Urbana 7 (2, 5)
• Game stats and coach's report: Gargoyle scoreboard

April 3: Monticello, T 0-0

• Story: Urbana loss, Monticello tie sidetrack Illineks
• Halftime: Uni 0, Monticello 0
• Uni goals: None
• Uni saves: Sarah Pfander 5 (2, 3)
• Uni shots on goal: Uni 18 (4, 14); Monticello 5 (2, 3)
• JV result: Urbana 1, Monticello 1
• JV Uni goal: Revathi Maturi (first minute), unassisted
• JV saves: Lor Sligar 1; Sheri Grill 2
• JV shots on goal: Uni 7 (2, 5); Monticello 4 (1, 3)
• Game stats and coach's report: Gargoyle scoreboard

April 8: Charleston

April 10: at Macon Meridian

April 12: at Normal Calvary Baptist *

April 15: Decatur St. Teresa

April 17: at Decatur Christian *

April 22: Mahomet-Seymour

April 24: at Mattoon

April 26: St. Thomas More

April 29: Danville

May 1: at Warrensburg-Latham

May 3: Judah Christian *

May 5: Decatur Lutheran *

May 7: Champaign Central

May 9: IHSA Class A Sectionals TBA

* East Central Illinois Conference opponent

SEASON STATISTICS

VARSITY SCORING

• Aran Yoo: 3 goals, 0 assists, 4 games
• Erika Belmont: 1 goal, 0 assists, 4 games
• Michelle Wong: 1 goal, 0 assists, 4 games
• Suran Yoo: 0 goals, 2 assists, 4 games
• Joy Shapley: 0 goals, 1 assist, 4 games
• Isaure Hostetter: 0 goals, 1 assist, 4 games
• Elizabeth Russell: 0 goals, 1 assist, 4 games

VARSITY GOALKEEPING

• Sarah Pfander: 5 goals allowed, 42 saves, 4 games

JV SCORING

• Emma Coverdill: 2 goals, 0 assists, 4 games
• Katie Buzard: 1 goal, 0 assists, 4 games
• Revathi Maturi: 1 goal, 2 assists, 4 games
• Katayun Salehi: 0 goals, 1 assist, 4 games

JV GOALKEEPING

• Lor Sligar: 1 goal allowed, 11 saves, 4 games
• Sheri Grill: 1 goal allowed, 7 saves, 4 games

TEAM ROSTER

VARSITY PLAYERS

• 2 Yoo, Suran 12th
• 3 Wong, Michelle 10th
• 4 Pfander, Sarah 12th
• 5 Machesky, Annie 11th
• 6 Freeland, Chelsea 12th
• 8 Chu, Emily 12th
• 9 Esbenshade, Shara 12th
• 10 Yoo, Aran 12th
• 11 Grill, Sheri 11th
• 12 Belmont, Erika 10th
• 13 Stark, Jessica 12th
• 14 Sullivan, Jessica 11th
• 15 Buzard, Katherine 10th
• 17 Levin, Maddy 11th
• 19 Schein, Zoë 12th
• 20 Hostetter, Isaure 10th
• 21 Shapley, Joy 11th
• 22 Hwu, Amanda 9th
• 23 Best, Sian 10th
• 27 Russell, Elizabeth 10th

JUNIOR VARSITY PLAYERS

• 1 Sligar, Lor 11th
• 7 Iyer, Marika 12th
• 11 Gratton, Cristina 9th
• 12 Smith, Lily 9th
• 13 Salehi, Katayun 9th
• 14 Engles, Alexx 10th
• 15 Maturi, Revathi 9th
• 16 Cooke, Jenny 9th
• 16 Nakamura, Natsuki 11th
• 17 Yannelis, Eleni 9th
• 24 Peregrine, Beth 12th
• 25 Pittenger, Larissa 12th
• 28 Coverdill, Emma 9th
• 29 Vazquez, Isabel 10th