As night fell and the stiff south wind persisted over Demirjian Park on Thursday night, the Illini hosted Iowa for the second time this spring. However, this one being the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, was win or go home, and unfortunately for the Illini, they chose the latter.
The first 10 minutes were decent enough from an Illini perspective. They put some pressure on Hawkeye goalkeeper Macy Enneking, but she was up to the challenge, saving everything that came her way including a pretty wicked low shot from Eileen Murphy.
As the half wore on, Iowa took control, creating dangerous opportunity after dangerous opportunity.