URBANA — The Illineks found themselves down by 2 goals in the first 10 minutes of Saturday's game against host Urbana and couldn't climb back from the deficit, losing 5-0. The nonconference defeat was Uni's third straight, bringing the team's record to 8-6-1 overall.

Uni has been shut out twice and outscored 14-1 during that stretch, which has come against two Class AA schools (Urbana and Champaign Central) and a Class A school (Warrensburg-Latham) that entered its game against the Illineks sporting a 29-game regular-season undefeated streak.

The Tigers opened the scoring Saturday in the third minute of the contest, taking advantage of Uni's failure to clear the ball and connecting on a shot from the top of the box.

Urbana scored again 5 minutes later on a similar play, followed by a third goal 24 minutes into the game. With 2 minutes left before halftime, the Tigers raised the score to 4-0 after catching the Uni defense out of position.

The final goal came 20 minutes into the second half.

Urbana dominated possession throughout most of the game, although Uni played strong at the beginning of both halves.

"The first 5 minutes of the game and the first 5 minutes of the second half we came out looking very confident," Uni coach Philip Anders said. "We came out looking like we knew how to play the ball, we knew how to possess it. We actually dominated the first 5 minutes of both halves. Our problem is that every time we make that errant pass we lose the ball, and I see shoulders going down. Nobody is thinking, ‘I gotta get the ball back.’ I guess that’s just an emotional rollercoaster these guys have to collectively work through, that they have to learn to deal with."

In all, senior goalkeeper Isaac Radnitzer managed 11 saves for the Illineks. His teammates managed only 2 shots on goal, 1 in each half.

"We’ve been working during the week ar making quick decisions possession-wise, of just thinking, simply put," Anders said. "We’ve been working on simply anticipating, reading the play, seeing those things unfold."

The team has four regular-season games remaining before the Class A postseason begins. The Illineks visit Tolono Unity on Tuesday, then host St. Thomas More on Thursday, followed by Normal Calvary Baptist on Oct. 9 and Monticello on Oct. 11. The playoffs begin the next day.

Uni is seeded No. 2 in the Monticello sectional. According to the IHSA's postseason schedule, the Illineks will host 15th-seeded Mt. Carmel in the first round of the playoffs on Oct. 12. The match is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

If Uni wins that game, the team would play again on Oct. 16 against the winner of the Oct. 13 Catlin Salt Fork (No. 10) vs. Monticello (No. 7) match. Judah Christian is the sectional's No. 1 seed.

Anders believes the tough competition Uni has been through will pay off when sectional competition begins.

"We really have an opportunity to do something in our sectional," Anders said. "There isn’t a team in our sectional that has a three-game stretch like what we just went through. So hopefully we come away from this not looking at the scoreboard, not looking at the breakdowns, but looking at simply what kind of game do we need to bring?

"We’re going to start out our first game against Mt. Carmel, which I think has won one game, and it wasn’t against a very strong team. But we can’t come to a game like that and just react and simply play at the level that they’re bringing to us. We’ve got to come out and play like we did in the first 5 minutes of both halves here. We do that for 40 minutes, we’re going to state. We’ve got the opportunity to do that. So, we’ll see."

Anders has no desire to see teams like Urbana leave Uni's schedule.

"I love this," Anders said. "I told the guys this week as we were working — I made them do all sorts of physical things — under your breath mumble, 'Urbana.' One of the guys said, ‘Why do you hate Urbana?’ I said I don’t hate Urbana, I love Urbana. I love the fact that we have somebody in our neighborhood that’s quality. And we owe them — we owe them — the respect to bring a good game.

"Because they should love us too. They should really think, 'Yeah this is great, we don’t have to travel too far to get a good game to play, to make something happen.' That’s the only way this game is going to develop in our area. That’s why I’ve been coaching. There are so many faces on Urbana’s team — on the JV team, on the varsity team — that I’ve coached. I’m not working against myself. I want to create a good soccer community where we can play quality soccer. That’s what I’m aiming for."

MORE PHOTOS: UNI AT URBANA

Junior Carter Hutchens gets in the way of an Urbana advance. Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

THE SEASON SO FAR

2007 BOYS SOCCER VARSITY RECORD: 8-6-1 overall, 2-1 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 assist: 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: Uni bounces back from Oakwood loss, shuts out Iroquois West
• 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)

Sept. 14: Schlarman, W 3-1

• Story: Hamer comes up big in first varsity game as Illineks down Hilltoppers
• Halftime score: Uni 2, Schlarman 1
• Uni goals: Dan Lilly 1 (season total: 6); Jake Seeley 1 (season total: 5); Holden Bucher 1 (season total: 5)
• Uni assists: Jake Seeley 1 (season total: 5); Dan Lilly 1 (season total: 2); Julian Hartman 1 (season total: 3)
• Uni saves: Nile Hamer 10
• JV game: Uni 2, Schlarman 1

Sept. 18: at Decatur Lutheran, W 4-0 *

• Story: Uni defeats Decatur Lutheran
• Halftime score: 3-0
• Uni goals: Dan Lilly 1 (season total: 7); Carter Hutchens 1 (season total: 2); Stephen Prochaska 1 (season total: 2); Sam Imlay 1 (season total: 2)
• Uni assists: Jake Seeley 2 (season total: 7); Sam Imlay 1 (season total: 3)
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 4, Nile Hamer 2
• JV game: none

Sept. 20: at Champaign Central, L 7-1

• Story: Central gets even for last year's upset
• Halftime score: Central 4, Uni 1
• Uni goal: Eddie Diazmunoz 1 (season total: 3)
• Uni assist: Noel Knox 1
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 25
• JV game: Central 4, Uni 0

Sept. 24: Warrensburg-Latham, L 2-0

• Story: Warrensburg-Latham's undefeated streak reaches 30 after downing Uni
• Halftime score: 0-0
• Uni goals: none
• Uni assists: none
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 15
• JV game: Uni 1, Warrensburg-Latham 1 (Uni goal by Noel Knox)

Sept. 29: at Urbana, L 5-0

• Story: see above
• Halftime score: Urbana 4, Uni 0
• Uni goals: none
• Uni assists: none
• Uni saves: Isaac Radnitzer 11
• JV game: to be posted

Next opponent: Tolono Unity, Oct. 2, at Unity High School (directions); varsity game to begin at 4:30 p.m.

* East Central Illinois Conference game