For the first time in over a decade, the women's Illinois soccer team will play in the NCAA tournament on Thursday.
Led by first-year head coach Katie Hultin, the Illini went 13-5-2 during the 2025 season and secured a 10-seed with a matchup against the 7-seed Memphis Tigers in the postseason.
Hultin’s crew will have their work cut out for them against what many consider to be a very underseeded Tigers team.
Memphis had an outstanding season, winning 16 games with its only loss coming in the American Athletic Conference Championship game. With a win over a 1-seeded Vanderbilt and a tie against a 3-seeded Tennessee, it is hard to understand how Memphis was given such little recognition in terms of their seeding.
The Illinois soccer team is equipped to handle such a tough first round test in the NCAA tournament
Despite this tough matchup, the Illini are well-equipped to handle this tougher competition. With wins over an 8-seed Penn State, Ohio State, and UIC, as well as close matchups with 4-seeded Washington, this team has shown they can hang around and challenge high-level competition.
The Illini will have to lean heavily on their Big Ten second-teamers in forward Sarah Foley and Goalie Izzy Lee.
Given Memphis’ strong scoring ability, Lee will likely have to stand on her head. Foley and the offense will have to match Lee’s strong output with some much-needed goal support.
Regardless of the outcome, this tournament appearance goes a long way in rebuilding a program that has been so incredibly down over the past decade. The 2025 season will go down as a culture-changing year for Illinois soccer, and perhaps their story has more to be told.