Big Ten Tournament: Soccer advances past Ohio State on penalty kicks, 4-2

In Illinois soccer's second meeting with Ohio State on the year, this time in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the Illini used penalty kicks to advance to the semifinal round after playing to a one-goal draw through double overtime on Wednesday afternoon. Vanessa DiBernardo tallied the lone regulation goal for the Orange and Blue, while junior goalkeeper Steph Panozzo stopped two Buckeye penalty kicks to secure the win. With the tie, Illinois secures the longest unbeaten streak in program history after setting the consecutive wins mark against Michigan in the final regular season contest.

"I'm proud of the way this team fought back," Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield said. "Somewhere in the middle of the first half we found energy and our fight. This game was a Big Ten battle with lots of fouls and the game didn't have rhythm. This team, in the past eight games, just keeps finding a way to win, and when you have a team like that it's fun to coach."

fightingillini.com