By Evy York, Summer Editor • Aug 11, 2026

Last season, Illinois set the standard for what the program can achieve year after year and made making the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments the expectation moving forward. In her second year as Illini head coach, Katie Hultin has hit the ground running, getting her team ready for Thursday’s season opener against the Georgia Bulldogs. 

“I think now all of us are a little more comfortable with how we want to play and our identity and where we want to go,” Hultin said. “So this year, it’s definitely not going to be easier by any means, but at least we’re all not jumping on a moving train.”

To new postseason heights, the guidance from the 2025-26 graduating class played a huge part. Throughout her first season as head coach, Hultin harped on how much her seniors’ leadership meant to the team’s success in all areas of the field, whether on the attacking front or the backline. 

While Hultin said the leadership of players like Lia Howard, Sydney Stephens, Sarah Foley and Ellen Persson can’t be completely replaced, others have begun bringing their unique qualities to the table to round out a new group of leaders. 

Revamped midfield rotation 

The first player Hultin pointed out as a potential leader is fifth-year midfielder Ashley Stellon, especially with Howard graduating. After redshirting her freshman year, Stellon grew alongside last season’s graduating class, starting 21 games in 2025 while recording 4 points and 9 shots on a .444 shots on goal percentage. 

Other key additions to Hultin’s midfield include junior midfielder Alyssa White, who came to Champaign from Oregon State, where she recorded 3 goals and 2 assists during her freshman season, and junior forward Gabriella Garcia-Terrell, who scored 9 goals for Howard University in 2025 on a 0.56 goals per match average. Putting more goalscorers up in the attacking front will only allow the Illini to keep playing aggressively and put pressure on opposing defenders. 

Now that Howard, one of last season’s most vocal leaders, is out of the mix in the midfield, Stellon is the next woman up. Hultin dubbed Stellon a “great communicator,” so with Illinois bringing in a group of new transfers into the midfield and forward positions, that skill could help this group start to mesh. 

No let-up on backline, in goal 

Another fifth-year player ready for this next step in leadership is goalkeeper Izzy Lee. Persson held down the backline last season, spearheading Illinois’ relentless wall in the defending third, but it’s time for Lee to take over, as well as sophomore defender Téa Mayson, who Lee said has grown into her role following her freshman season. 

Lee said her leadership style may have to change with the personnel on this year’s roster, but it’s not a challenge she’s going to shy away from as the season inches closer. Lee also redshirted her freshman year as an Illini, yet stuck with the program for the entirety of her collegiate career.

“I’ve always been more of a kind of lead-by-example type of leader,” Lee said. “I need to be able to speak up more and have my opinion out there.”

Lee’s on-field talent speaks for itself, as a second-team All-Big Ten in 2025 and Illinois’ record-holder for career save percentage and single-season saves. She also recorded 10 clean sheets last season — the fourth most in a single season in Illinois history. 

Since Hultin arrived in Champaign, Lee has continued to grow, as she noted that Hultin helped her develop into a goalkeeper who is involved with all aspects of the defense, not just what happens within the goal. 

“I’d love (Lee) for another five if possible,” Hultin said. “The time we had with her and the spring was massive for development … She’s grown a lot just in the last six months. And I think I still give a ton of credit to the rest of our goalkeepers that continue to push each other and push her. Without that goalkeeper group, no one’s getting better.”

Leadership in attacking third

Hultin isn’t just expecting her most experienced athletes to step up to the plate as leaders. The second-year Illini head coach also pointed out juniors Cayla Jackson and Lauren Seppi as players who can handle this challenge. In the offseason, Jackson and Seppi worked together to put on Illinois’ first Lift for Life event with Uplifting Athletes, proving they won’t shy away from leadership opportunities. 

The pair may work together both on and off the field, but they have had different collegiate paths. Seppi has been in Champaign her entire career, even through her quad injuries last year, while Jackson transferred to Illinois in 2025. 

Jackson said that her experiences in her first year with the Illini and as a Georgia Bulldog have prepared her to lead a team that’s ready to make NCAA appearances the new expectation.

“I feel like it kind of just happened overnight and it kind of just fell in my lap, but I’m super grateful for it,” Jackson said. “I have definitely realized I’m not that freshman anymore, but it’s nice being able to just take the wisdom that I learned from the class that was just here, and even my seniors at Georgia and my old teammates there, and just implement everything that I’ve been learning.”

Alongside Jackson and Seppi, junior forward Emma Yee also is a top returning member of Illinois’ frontline attack, and may be the most primed for a breakout year. Yee scored 6 goals during her sophomore campaign with 14 shots on goal. Foley, the Illini’s top goal scorer, graduated after last season, so the role is Yee’s for the taking as the next step in her development. 

Illinois isn’t satisfied with one win in the Big Ten tournament and an appearance in the NCAA tournament without a victory. Its season opener, set for Thursday at home against Georgia at 6 p.m. CT, will be its first test of the year. 

“I think the biggest thing for us is pushing ourselves to sort of that edge of greatness, if you will, and being confident enough to take some chances and take some risks and push to get better,” Hultin said. “Because the more comfortable we are, the more complacent we become.”

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