Oct. 2, 2005
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State women's soccer team had much to celebrate Sunday afternoon as the Redbirds snapped a three-game losing streak, downing the IPFW Mastodons 3-1. The `Birds were also celebrating Senior Day, Alumni Day and the Heidecke Tribute at Adelaide Street Field.
With the win the Redbirds improve to 4-5-2, while IPFW falls to 2-6-3 on the year.
Illinois State senior Heather Forsyth scored the `Bird's first goal early in the first half to set the tone for Sunday's game. Scoring in the 7th minute, Forsyth stole the ball from an IPFW player and scored from 15 yards out on IPFW keeper Shannon Lynn. Forsyth would finish the game with four shots, all of which were on goal.
Lynn played all 90 minutes for the Mastodons and recorded seven saves on ten shots on goal.
Illinois State head coach Pete Kowall was pleased with Forsyth's goal just minutes into the match.
"The first half was much better," said Kowall. "That was obviously our goal today, to come out harder and stronger so that was good. We wanted to score an early goal to set the tone and we did that. For Heather to get that goal on Senior Day made it even more special for everyone."
Aggression was shown from the start as the Redbirds controlled the clock and kept the ball on the opponent's half of the field. The `Birds limited the Mastodons to just three shots in the first period and five total on the afternoon.
Play was also physical from the start, with both teams receiving eight fouls. IPFW's Brittany Saylor was also cited with a yellow card for a violent play in the second half.
After the half, in the 50th minute, Illinois State freshman Mel Routledge netted her sixth goal of the season. As the ball deflected off an IPFW defender, Routledge dribbled the ball past Lynn, putting the `Birds up 2-0.
Just nine minutes later (59:16), Redbird forward Meghan Boler scored an insurance goal for Illinois State. Scoring on an assist from freshman Routledge and Rachel Lee, Boler took a shot from 10 yards out, finding the goal and increasing the Redbird lead to 3-0. Boler finished the game with four shots, two of which were on goal for ISU.
IPFW found a flaw in the stingy Redbird defense at the 66-minute mark. Mastodon forward Anika Apar booted a shot past Illinois State goalkeeper Andrea Shaw, scoring on an assist from Lindsay Williamson and making the score 3-1.
Shaw tallied all goalkeeper minutes for the `Birds, notching the win and recording three saves on five IPFW shots.
Kowall was pleased with the way his team adjusted to a different lineup and made changes to win the game.
"We threw some new people in different positions because (Amanda) Lauber and (Meghan) Boler couldn't play much as they were a little banged up," said Kowall. "I was proud of the team and the way they adjusted. We scored some goals and we had some other great chances. We only had one mistake in the back where they scored so that was too bad but we can fix that."
The Redbirds will continue play at home as Illinois State hosts Creighton on Friday, October 7 at 2:30 p.m.
Kowall and his team are anticipating the second conference game of the season against the Bluejays.
"We are very excited about Creighton," said Kowall. "I think we are going to have a good week of practice; the girls are really looking forward to this game. It's our home field that we have to defend and anything can happen. We are only down one game and we have five conference games left so this is our chance to make it right."
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