September 3, 2012
FIRST TIMERS
Illini roll past UW-Milwaukee

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Three different players scored to help Illinois to a 3-1 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Monday.

Nicole Denenberg, Taylore Peterson and Marissa Holden all scored their first goals of the 2012 season, while Megan Pawloski and Nicole Breece picked up their first assists with Kristen Gierman collecting her second.

"Offensively we were really good today, we moved the ball, attacked Milwaukee in lots of different ways and scored three really great goals from three different players," said Illini interim head coach Jeff Freeman. "Today was a huge step forward for us, both offensively and with some things we have talked about defensively."

Illinois got on the board in the 20th minute thanks to great one-on-one dribbling from Denenberg. The senior possessed the ball near the goal line on the left side of the Panther's box. After splitting a couple of defenders, Denenberg launched the ball from about 12 yards out, giving Illinois the early 1-0 advantage while collecting her second career goal.

Illinois' quick strike offense was utilized again in the second half when Taylore Peterson netted her first collegiate goal just two minutes in. Megan Pawloski in-bounded the ball with a flip-throw followed by a well-placed header from senior captain Kristen Gierman, who advanced the ball to a waiting Peterson near the penalty marker. The freshman then blasted the ball to the right side of the goal.

The Illini offense continued to roll when Marissa Holden found the back of the net in the 60th minute. In the Panther's defensive third, Nicole Breece passed the ball from the left side of the field, finding Holden in the center of the pitch about 22 yards out. After her first touch, Holden curved the ball to the upper-90 of the left side of the goal to give the Illini their third and final goal of the game.

The Panthers did get on the scoreboard in the 69th minute when Kelsey Holbert set up teammate Kelly Lewers. The play started out of the back, where Kelsey Kochanowski played the ball forward to Amy Kauffung, who took the ball out wide. She found KHolbert in the box and Holbert moved into the penalty area and chipped a centering pass to the middle where Lewers was there to head in her first goal of the season.

Illinois bounced back nicely nearly netting their fourth goal of the match just four minutes later when freshman Amy Feher's shot hit the right post and Niki Read's shot forty seconds later was saved by Jamie Forbes.
Illinois moved their overall record to 3-1-1 while Wisconsin-Milwaukee dropped to 1-3-1.

"I’m so proud of this team for buying into what we are trying to do and for working hard day in and day out," said Freeman. "It hasn’t been easy but we certainly saw the benefits of that hard work today."
Illinois senior goalkeeper Steph Panozzo recorded three saves to bring her season total to 21. Forbes made four saves.

he Illini travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to battle No. 13 Virginia Tech and No. 15 Wake Forest in the Wake Forest Invitational. The Illini first play the Hokies on Friday, Sept. 7, at 4 p.m. CT, then clash with the Demon Deacons on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 12 p.m. CT.

The Panthers play at Purdue Friday before returning home to host nationally-ranked Wisconsin Sept. 12.