BGSU women’s soccer (1-0-0) began its 2025 season with a victory on Thursday night, defeating Oakland (0-1-0) 1-0 thanks to forward Ella Kane’s debut goal, but things will get tougher on Sunday, Aug. 17, at 1 p.m. when Bowling Green takes on the Illinois Fighting Illini (1-0-0) at Cochrane Stadium.
The Falcons began their season with a victory for the second time in as many years, and they will attempt to go 2-0 to begin non-conference play for only the third time since 2017. The squad is 0-10-1 against Big Ten opponents since 2017, with the lone draw coming in 2021 against Michigan State.
The latest meeting between BGSU and Illinois was also held in 2021, resulting in the Fighting Illini completing a dominant 5-1 victory at Cochrane Stadium, only a game after the draw with the Spartans.
Scouting Illinois
The Fighting Illini squad finished 11th out of 18 Big Ten members in 2024 with a 4-6-1 conference record, and they finished 3-3-1 on the road overall. They were 4-2-1 in non-conference play last year, but their only road game against a non-Power Four school resulted in a close 3-2 victory over Mercer from the SoCon.
Head coach Katie Hultin became the fourth coach in Illinois history after being hired ahead of the 2025 season, and she started it by leading her squad to a season-opening victory over UIC on Thursday evening.
Hultin headed to Champaign after three seasons with Grand Valley State of the GLIAC, reaching two Division II NCAA Tournament regional championships and a 45-7-19 record.
Illinois is led offensively by Senior forward Sarah Foley, who made the All-Big Ten Second Team in 2024 thanks to 11 goals and two assists that added up to a 24-point season, the most by an Illini since 2015.
Falcon fans can expect to see redshirt junior Izzy Lee protecting the Illinois goal on Sunday, a player who recorded 97 saves in 2024, the most of any Big Ten goalkeeper. Her save percentage of 80.2 was the best of any Illinois goalkeeper since 2010, excluding the shortened 2020 season.
The Illini lost their two leading defenders after the 2024 season, and it shows on their 2025 roster that features one of the youngest defensive cores in the Big Ten with five freshmen, two sophomores, and only one senior.
Illinois finished tied for 14th out of 18 Big Ten teams with 24 goals allowed in 2024, but they began the season with a shutout in the 2025 season opener against UIC.
Scouting Bowling Green:
Transfers and new faces stole the show of the 2025 season opener for Bowling Green, with Kane, the Louisville transfer, scoring the opening and game-winning goal against Oakland, and the assist on the goal coming from Niagara transfer Isabella Mazzaferro.
Kane and Mazzaferro led a Bowling Green attack that threatened throughout the night and eventually found the back of the net in the second half.
Junior defender and team captain Taylor Greenwas joined by West Virginia transfer Gabby Lamparty at the center of a Falcon defense that allowed only five shots on Thursday night, and only one in the entire second half.
Redshirt freshman Minah Syam and redshirt junior Jayna Searles made their first-ever starts for Bowling Green under entirely different circumstances, with Syam sitting out her true freshman season due to injury and Searles sitting out 2024 after playing in 24 games off the bench in 2022 and 2023.
Grad student forward Ellie Pool made her return to the pitch after also missing all of 2024 due to injury, and she took her first shot as a Falcon since Nov. 2 of 2023.
Before the matchup with Illinois, Fox and the team announced the promotion of Steven Samuel from assistant coach to associate head coach.
After a 2024 non-conference schedule without any Power Four opponents, head coach Chris Fox will get his first of two challenges against such opponents, with the latter coming on Aug. 31 when the Falcons host Big 12 side Cincinnati.
Falcon Media Sports Network will have full coverage of the match on bgfalconmedia.com.
