CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini Soccer earned its second win of the weekend on Sunday, topping Michigan State 3-1. Sophomore Patricia George netted two goals in the first half, and redshirt senior Reagan Robishaw added another in the 75^th minute for the Illini victory. Illinois improves to 5-9-1 overall and 2-4-1 in Big Ten play.

"This was certainly a great weekend for us," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "This is the kind of team we thought we could be, but we just struggled a little bit on the goal scoring. This weekend we proved that we can score goals and play with the best teams in the conference."

Illinois got off to an aggressive start to the match as the Illini fired three shots in the first five minutes of play, holding Michigan State without a shot until the 10^th minute.

George put the Illini in the lead in the 35th minute, netting her second goal of the season. She carried the ball up from midfield, beating the Michigan State defense, and fired a shot from just outside the top of the box. She didn't stop there, however, as she converted a short pass from freshman Kelly Maday just a few minutes later to give the Illini a two-goal advantage heading into halftime. The assist marks the first for Maday in her career.

"It felt amazing," George said of Sunday's match. "When I came onto the field, I knew I had to put all my energy into this game. I felt like our offense had a lot of good chemistry on the field today, I think our win against Michigan gave us the push we needed to be able to go out there and win."

The Spartans knocked in their only goal of the match in the 71^st minute, but Illinois quickly responded just a few minutes later. Robishaw took advantage of an Illini corner kick, flicking in the cross from senior Hope D'Addario. Robishaw has carded two goals for Illinois this season, while D'Addario earns her fifth assist of the year.

Illinois outshot Michigan State 15-8, holding the Spartans to just three shots in the second half. The Orange and Blue put seven shots on goal in the match, allowing just three from Michigan State. Senior goalkeeper Claire Wheatley grabbed two saves and earned her second victory of the year.

The Illini are on the road next weekend heading to Nebraska and Iowa. The Orange and Blue take on the Huskers at 7 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 13), followed by the Hawkeyes on Sunday (Oct. 16) at 1 p.m. Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest on Illinois soccer.

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