Matchday Information –Butler vs. Illinois             
Date:                           Sunday, August 29 / 2 PM (eastern, 1 PM central)
Location:                     Champaign, Ill. / Demirjian Park
Live Stats:                   fightingillini.com
Watch:                         BTN+
Series History:            Illinois leads, 3-0-0
Last Meeting:              September 12, 2019 - Champaign, Ill. – Illinois 2, Butler 1
 
Full Notes
 
The Butler women's soccer team is looking for its second consecutive victory over a Big Ten opponent when it travels to Champaign, Ill., to take on Illinois. The match will kick off at 1 PM CT (2 PM ET) on Sunday, August 29, at Demirjian Park on the University of Illinois campus.
 
The Bulldogs (1-1-0) are coming off a 3-1 victory of Northwestern while the Fighting Illini (2-1-0) most recently saw a 1-5 setback to No. 3 North Carolina. Butler is playing its third consecutive Big Ten opponent to open the 2021 season. The Bulldogs fell to Michigan, 0-5, and then defeated Northwestern, 3-1.
Katie Soderstrom scored two goals in the victory over Northwestern. It marked her third career multi-goal outing; she scored a pair of goals vs. IUPUI as a sophomore in 2019 and had a career-best three goals in February against Dayton. Alli Leonard assisted on each of Soderstrom's goals. The first was setup when Abigail Isger fed the ball to a cutting Leonard in the offensive third. In addition to her assist, Isger scored her second career goal. Her unassisted tally came as she challenged a pass to the keeper directly in front of the Northwestern goal. Soderstrom and Isger combined for eight of Butler's 12 shots against Northwestern, and five were on goal. Two Butler freshmen made their first respective collegiate starts on Thursday vs. Northwestern, as Lauren Doerr and Emma Martin cracked the line-up. Martin made five saves in the contest, allowing only a single goal.

Butler returns 21 letterwinners from the 2020-21 roster who led the team to an overall record of 10-2 and 6-1 in the BIG EAST Midwest Division. The team lost in the championship match of the conference tournament. Returnees include All-BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Rodriguez, First Team selections Savich and Soderstrom, Second Team members Aliya Diagne and Rodriguez, and Freshman Team honorees Alli Leonard and Caitlin O'Malley.
 
Illinois returns 24 letterwinners from the 2020 roster that saw the Illini earn a 6-5-1 record and an appearance in the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois welcomes back three All-B1G honorees from last season: redshirt junior and leading scorer, Kendra Pasquale (5g, 2a), senior Makena Silber, and sophomore Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal. The trio is part of a group of nine returning players with 10+ starts that also includes Eileen Murphy, Lauren Stibich, Aleah Treiterer, Hope Breslin, Maggie Hillman, and Ashley Cathro.