Junior Isaure Hostetter (21) and sophomore Eunjung Kim (22) celebrate Uni's win. Gargoyle photo by Dave Porreca (click to enlarge)

CHAMPAIGN — After Uni's 7-0 victory over Judah Christian on March 20, the Illineks are 2-1 and poised to take on yet another Champaign foe when they come back from spring break next week.

Uni will host Centennial at DCR Complex 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Both teams will no doubt have last year's game on their minds, when the Illineks shocked the Class 2A Chargers 2-1.

Although the season is just three games old, the Illineks look like a balanced squad that will pose problems for many Class 1A teams. Eight players have combined for the varsity's 13 goals.

Centennial will be Uni's fourth Champaign opponent in as many games. The Illineks began their season March 16 with a 6-0 rout of St. Thomas More, followed two days later with a 5-0 loss to 2A Champaign Central.

Then, on the last day before spring break, junior Katie Buzard scored a game-high three goals to lead Uni to its dominating conference win over Judah Christian. With the victory, the Illineks are 1-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference.

Against the Tribe, the girls showed no lingering effects from the Central shutout. In fact, midfielders Michelle Wong and Erika Belmont teamed up for a score just three minutes into the game, with Wong finding the back of the net on a pass from her fellow junior.

In the 14th minute, Wong opened up the right side of the Tribe's goal, which allowed right midfielder Elizabeth Russell to finish easily for the game's second score.

With a comfortable 2-0 lead, Uni controlled the ball for the next 15 minutes but didn't score again until junior Elizabeth Allen's crossing pass connected with Buzard in front of the net for the first of the forward's three goals. This triggered a Uni barrage, as the Illineks went on to score three more times in less than five minutes.

Wong gave Uni a 4-0 lead on her second goal of the day, this time assisted by Buzard in the 31st minute. Buzard scored a minute later on a great pass by Belmont. Then Belmont ended Uni's run with an unassisted goal in the 34th minute.

"In a show of speed and ball skill, Erika dribbled through no less than three defenders to finally beat the goal keeper for the score," head coach Philip Anders noted in his game report.

Uni went into halftime ahead 6-0, having outshot the Tribe 17-1.

Buzard completed her hat trick 19 minutes into the second half on an assist by sophomore Revathi Maturi. Anders substituted liberally throughout the game, which the officials ended 10 minutes early.

As in the St. Thomas More contest, the Illinek defense stifled every scoring score chance the visitors had. Uni finished with 28 shots on goal compared to one for the Tribe. Sophomores Eunjung Kim and Amanda Hwu guarded the net for the Illineks, with Kim making the team's only save.

There was no JV game.

Tuesday's Centennial contest will be a major challenge, as will later matchups against other 2A schools such as Urbana, Charleston, Mahomet-Seymour, and Mattoon, but the Illineks have shown they have the talent to rank among the area's top 1A teams.

Varsity Season Statistics at a Glance