On this kick sophomore Dan Lilly scores his second goal of the game Thursday against Iroquois West. Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

URBANA — Recording his fifth shutout in 10 games wasn't enough for goalkeeper Isaac Radnitzer in Uni's 4-0 win Thursday over visiting Iroquois West.

The senior also scored a goal of his own as Uni rebounded from Tuesday's disappointing 2-1 road loss to Oakwood.

In the 32nd minute of the game, with Uni ahead 2-0, junior Stephen Prochaska was fouled while inside the box, setting up a penalty kick for the Illineks. Coach Phil Anders called on Radnitzer to attempt the PK.

"Isaac has one of the strongest legs on the team," Anders said. "Plus, goalkeepers know other goalkeepers well — and he's been asking me to let him try a kick."

Radnitzer nailed the shot, giving Uni a 3-0 lead heading into halftime. It was actually Radnitzer's second goal this week. On Tuesday, playing in the field in an unofficial JV game against Oakwood after the varsity match, Radnitzer scored Uni's only goal in a 1-1 tie.

Against Iroquois West, which came into the contest with a 6-2 record, senior Jake Seeley got Uni on the board first. His unassisted goal came on a direct kick in the 11th minute of the game, giving him 4 goals on the season.

Eight minutes later, sophomore Dan Lilly scored with an assist by junior Carter Hutchens, putting the Illineks up 2-0.

Lilly scored his second goal of the day — and his team-high fifth of the season — with just 3 seconds left in the game. Senior T.J. Bozada ran interference to set up the play, and senior Julian Hartman got the assist.

Radnitzer made 9 saves, 5 in the first half. He has given up just 10 goals in 10 games.

With the nonconference win, Uni is now 6-3-1 overall, 1-1 in the East Central Illinois Conference.

Overall, Anders was pleased with how his players responded to the Oakwood loss.

"We looked much better today," he said. "We played confidently for the first time in a couple of games."

Anders noted that the return of Prochaska from a leg injury gave the team a boost, as did the defensive play of Stephen's twin brother, Russell.

"Both Stephen and Russell have stepped up," he said.

For the players themselves, Tuesday's loss against a team they had defeated 5-1 at the start of the year served as an eye-opener.

"I think it was definitely a motivating factor, the fact that we did so poorly," Seeley commented. "We know we can do better than that. So just the fact that we showed ourselves that we can also do that poorly, we know we've got to swing to the positive end of our spectrum. It's really just attitude. We try to play the same game every game. We just need to keep up the intensity."

Lilly said one of the main differences in today's win was the team's ability to take advantage of scoring opportunities.

"The whole season we've had trouble finishing," he said. "But today we finished on two free kicks, and on a couple of other good plays we scored. We didn't have a lot of shots [7 in all], but we finished them."

The Illineks don't have much time to enjoy their win. They will play again this afternoon, hosting always tough Danville Schlarman in a nonconference match. The game will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the DCR Soccer Complex.

Two years ago Uni handed Schlarman its only regular-season loss. Last year the Hilltoppers got revenge, defeating Uni in Danville.

"They're a real physical team," Seeley noted. "All their stars have been track stars — typically they've been very fast."

After Schlarman, Uni will continue to face high-quality opponents, including Warrensburg-Latham (to whom Uni lost the sectional championship last fall), Champaign Central, and Urbana.

Said senior defender T.J. Bozada: "One of our biggest problems this year has been playing down to people's levels, so I'm interested to see how we'll do with some better teams, at least skillwise. We'll see what we're really capable of."

THE SEASON SO FAR

2007 BOYS SOCCER VARSITY RECORD: 6-3-1 overall, 1-1 East Central Illinois Conference
(home games listed in bold)

Aug. 25: Oakwood (Uni High Soccer Shoot Out), W 5-1

• Story: Illineks win first game of season-opening tournament
• Halftime score: Uni 2, Oakwood 1
• Uni goals: Dan Lilly 2; Holden Bucher 1; Sam Imlay 1; Jake Seeley 1
• Uni assists: Sam Imlay 2; David Hjelmstad 1; Stephen Prochaska 1; Jake Seeley 1
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 6

Aug. 25: Blue Ridge (Uni High Soccer Shoot Out), W 1-0

• Story: Sophomore's first varsity goal turns out to be game winner
• Halftime score: Uni 0, Blue Ridge 0
• Uni goal: Eddie Diazmunoz 1
• Uni assist: Holden Bucher 1
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 13

Aug. 25: Fisher (Uni High Soccer Shoot Out), T 1-1

• Story: Uni wins seventh consecutive Shoot Out title
• Halftime score: Uni 1, Fisher 1
• Uni goal: Eddie Diazmunoz 1 (season total: 2)
• Uni assist: none
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 11

Aug. 28: at Judah Christian, L 5-0 *

• Story: Judah downs Uni
• Halftime score: Judah Christian 2, Uni 0
• Uni goals: none
• Uni assists: none
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 8
• JV game: Judah Christian 1, Uni 0

Aug. 30: Mahomet-Seymour, L 1-0

• Story: Mahomet-Seymour shuts out Illineks
• Halftime score: 0-0
• Uni goals: none
• Uni assists: none
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 18
• JV game: Mahomet-Seymour 3, Uni 1 (goal by Loic Hostetter, with assist by Eric Fritzsche)

Sept. 4: at Fisher, W 2-0

• Story: Illineks get back on scoreboard, defeat Fisher 2-0
• Halftime score: Uni 1, Fisher 0
• Uni goals: Stephen Prochaska 1; Holden Bucher 1 (season total: 2)
• Uni assists: Holden Bucher 1 (season total: 2); Neil Pearson 1
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 5
• JV game: Fisher 4, Uni 2 (Uni goals by Richard Weisbach, with
  assist by Grant Loos; Loic Hostetter, with assist by Jasper
  Maniates-Selvin)

Sept. 6: Decatur Christian, W 3-0 *

• Story: Bucher leads Uni to 3-0 win
• Halftime score: 0-0
• Uni goals: Holden Bucher 2 (season total: 4); Jake Seeley 1 (season total: 2)
• Uni assists: Russell Prochaska 1; Dan Lilly 1; Seeley 1 (season total: 2)
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 3
• JV game: none

Sept. 8: Sullivan, W 2-0 (game called after first half due to lightning)

• Story: Uni wins game shortened by lightning
• Halftime score: 2-0
• Uni goals: Carter Hutchens 1; Dan Lilly 1 (season total: 3)
• Uni assists: Jake Seeley 2 (season total: 4)
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 2
• JV game: none

Sept. 11: at Oakwood, L 2-1

• Story: Comets get payback, beat Illineks 2-1
• Halftime score: 2-1
• Uni goal: Jake Seeley 1 (season total: 3)
• Uni assists: Julian Hartman
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 11
• JV game: Uni 1, Oakwood 1 (unofficial match; Uni goal by Radnitzer)

Sept. 13: Iroquois West, W 4-0

• Story: see above
• Halftime score: 3-0
• Uni goals: Dan Lilly 2 (season total: 5); Jake Seeley 1 (season total: 4); Isaac Radnitzer
• Uni assists: Carter Hutchens 1; Julian Hartman 1 (season total: 2)
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 9
• JV game: none (intra-squad scrimmage)

Next opponent: Danville Schlarman, Sept. 14, at DCR Soccer Complex (Lincoln & Florida avenues, Urbana); varsity game to begin at 4:30 p.m.

* East Central Illinois Conference game