MONTICELLO — The Illineks avoided a letdown after their historic victory over Urbana earlier this week by taking care of business today with a 2-0 shutout of Class 1A rival Monticello.

Senior Joy Shapley opened the scoring for Uni in the 38th minute with her fifth goal of the season. Center midfielder Michelle Wong set up the scoring opportunity with a cross pass that center forward Emma Coverdill redirected to Shapley on the left of the goal.

The Illineks maintained their 1-0 lead into the 74th minute. At that point, Wong and fellow junior Erika Belmont teamed up for the clincher. After the center-mid duo created several chances in front of the Monticello net, Belmont connected for her team-leading sixth goal of the season, with an assist from Wong.

Senior keeper Rachel Skoza earned the shutout with seven saves. Uni outshot Monticello 16-5, including a 10-4 advantage in the first half.

The nonconference win raises Uni's varsity record to 5-2 overall; the Illineks remain 1-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference.

Since losing to Class 2A Centennial 2-0 on March 31, the Illineks have put together a three-game winning streak, during which they have outscored their opponents 11-1.

The biggest victory in that stretch, of course, took place Tuesday, when the team recorded the school's first-ever varsity win over 2A Urbana in the 13-year history of Uni girls soccer.

More and more, Uni's 5-0 loss to 2A Champaign Central on March 18 is looking like an outlier. Take away that game, and the Illineks are 5-1 and have outscored the opposition 24-3.

Uni will have another chance to measure itself against a 2A opponent next week when the team travels to Charleston on Tuesday.

In JV action, Monticello handed Uni its first loss of the season, defeating the Illineks 2-1. Coverdill, a sophomore, scored Uni's lone goal. The JV squad is 3-1-2 overall, 0-0 ECIC.

Varsity Season Statistics at a Glance