On a near-freezing night at Illinois Soccer Stadium, several close calls provided the biggest chill as Western Michigan knocked out No. 16-seed Illinois 2-0 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

"We were really positive going into halftime," said senior defender Meghan Kolze. "We had the wind at our back now, so we felt very confident going into the second half. We have very good attackers and very good forwards that finish the ball very well."

Unfortunately for the Illini, their best opportunities came in the first half, going against the wind.

The Illini were down 1-0 following a spectacular 25-yard free kick in the upper-left corner by Western Michigan's Chantel Robinson. Illini freshmen Brittany Ward and Eva Strickland nearly hooked up on a tying goal with 11 minutes left in the first half. Strickland pushed the ball past sliding Western Michigan goalie Kate Perz, only to watch it hit the post and be knocked away inches from the goal by a Bronco defender.

Even more deflating was senior Tiffani Walker's miss with 4:10 left in the first half. As Perz came out of the box to challenge 18 yards out, Walker arched a beautiful shot that appeared headed for the center of the net, but the wind pushed barely wide left, bouncing off the post.

"It is a game of inches," head coach Janet Rayfield said of the near misses. "Inches matter."

Western Michigan's Jessica Pattison iced the game with 5:04 left, stealing the ball from Illini defender Sarah Brown before putting it past goalkeeper Leisha Alcia from inside the box.

Illinois played most of the game without leading scorer Tara Hurless, who was expected to be out with a sprained knee. Rayfield put her in the game to provide an offensive spark with 25 minutes left in the contest, but it was to no avail.

"We talked before the game that we felt she was ready to go for at least a few minutes in each half," Rayfield said. "She didn't feel comfortable striking the ball with her right foot."

With the right leg heavily braced, Hurless attempted a left-legged shot from the right wing that barely missed the upper-left corner with 18:10 remaining.

"It's easy to look back and say I'd change a lot of things," Rayfield said, when asked about the decision to hold Hurless out until late. "In fact, I question whether putting her in at all was the right answer, because she was obviously pretty limited."

Despite the loss, Rayfield told her team not to forget all they have accomplished this year. The Illini put together a 16-4-2 overall mark, going 7-1-2 in Big Ten play — both school records — and capped it off by winning the Big Ten Tournament.

"This is obviously a pretty tough situation for us," Rayfield said. "I just told the team they can't let this take away from what has been an otherwise tremendous year. We have taken this program places it has never been before."

With nine of 11 starters returning next season, including Big Ten First Team members Hurless and Alcia, the Illini have set a solid foundation for the future.

"After all the emotions, tomorrow we'll sit down and realize (what we accomplished this year) and be proud of what we have done," Alcia said.