Freshman Tiffany DeClark scored Illinois States lone goal off a pass from teammate Ellen Dooremont to lifts the Redbird soccer team to a 1-0 shutout over Valley foe Creighton in conference soccer action, Friday, in Omaha.
DeClark took a pass from Dooremont with approximately twenty minutes remaining in regulation play and connected on the goal, her third of the year, at the 64:48 mark.
Illinois State improves to 11-3 overall, 4-1 in the Valley. Creighton falls to 7-10, suffering its third conference loss (3-3). The win keeps the Birds in the running to finish either first or second in the regular-season MVC standings. ISU has shared the regular-season title with Evansville for two consecutive years.
In an extremely defensive-minded game, the Redbirds recorded a season-low five shots, while the Bluejays finished with nine. Redbird goalie Becky Feldmann made five saves and notched her seven shutout of 2000, tying the Illinois State record for shutouts in a season, which she set in 1998.
Head coach Pete Kowall said after the match his team couldnt have gotten a better win, especially with the conference standings and the time of year.
We played real hard and again got a great victory, Kowall said. Tiffany got set up perfectly from Ellen and they put the ball away. We had other chances I think could of gotten us a bigger lead, but the way it turned out, one goal was all we needed.
Winning against Creighton on the road is huge also, Kowall continued. The regular
season standings are tight right now, between us and Evansville and SW Missouri St. So every victory from here on out counts and I am real proud of this team for getting us closer to our goal, winning the conference and getting a high seed going into the tournament.
The Redbirds return home to play Northern Iowa, a first-year program in the Valley, on Sunday, Oct. 22. The match begins at noon at Adelaide Street Field.
