Unexpected Illinois team makes its way onto SportsCenter's Top 10

The Fighting Illini are flying toward the kickoff of their 2025 football season, but a different Illinois team was the talk of Champaign this week.

Sarah Foley, a senior forward for the Illinois women's soccer team, had an unbelievable play against the Boston College Eagles that led to what would be the game-winning goal for the Fighting Illini.

Foley's play, which earned the Illini their third win of the season, was then featured on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 as the No. 10 play of the week.

The veteran forward flew past the Eagles' players on the field to secure the ball and then juked out (seemingly half) of the defenders before knocking a beautiful shot into the top left corner of the goal.

With the win, Illinois improved to 3-0 on the season, securing victories over Boston College, the Bowling Green Falcons, and the Illinois-Chicago Flames. All three wins have been by a score of 1-0.

The game against Boston College was Foley's first of the season, joining Sydney Stephens and Cayla Jackson in the scoring column, and the first of her career with the Fighting Illini.

Following Foley's feature on primetime television, even the Illinois athletic director, Josh Whitman, and football head coach Bret Bielema had to get involved in the celebrations.

Katie Hultin, whom Bielema congratulated in his post, was named the head coach of Illinois women's soccer on Dec. 11 of last year. She is just the fourth-ever person to hold the position.

Also read: Fighting Illini get thrilling update ahead of Week 1 straight from Bret Bielema

The Fighting Illini have just four non-conference games remaining before Big Ten play kicks off, including matchups against the DePaul Blue Demons (Aug. 28), Kentucky Wildcats (Aug. 31), Missouri Tigers (Sept. 4), and Valparaiso Beacons (Sept. 12).

Illinois will make a trip to Eugene to visit the Oregon Ducks on Sept. 18 to start its conference schedule, which lasts through the end of October.