Aug. 20, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
In the Redbird's third and final pre-season match, Heather Forsyth and Meghan Boler recorded Illinois State goals in a 2-0 Redbird victory over the Fox Valley Strikers, Saturday at Adelaide Street Field.
Both Illinois State goals came in the second period. Forsyth scored her goal on a header with an assist from Shannon Durocher. Her goal put the `Birds ahead, 1-0, seventeen minutes into the second period.
Just three minutes later, Boler found the goal on an assist from senior Joyce Kleinheinz. Boler and Kleinheinz both posted three shots on the day.
Illinois State keeper Erica Goethel came up with a crucial save on a shot from Striker player Amy Foran that threatened the Redbird shutout with four minutes left to go in the game. Goethel went on to record four saves on six shots in the period, tallying six total saves on the afternoon.
Play was slow in the first period, as the score was even at the half, 0-0. The majority of the first-period action, however, took place on Fox Valley's side, with Illinois State dominating their home field.
Fox Valley looked as if they would score, as they attacked the Redbird goal at the 29-minute mark. Goethel fell down just outside the box as Fox Valley's Nina Suker took a shot but Illinois State's Sheila Sarsfield prevented the Strikers from scoring by deflecting the ball towards the sidelines.
Illinois State recorded 19 shots overall in the game, 11 of which came in the first half. Leading in Redbird shots was freshman Mel Routledge with four, all of which were on goal.
Illinois State head coach Pete Kowall was pleased with the pre-season play of his squad.
"Today's game was a good end to the preseason," said Kowall. "It was another good experience to prepare us for the start of the regular season. We're pretty beat up, physically, from preseason play. So we're going to give some people some rest in the next few days and come back to compete with Central Michigan on Friday."
Regular season action begins Friday for the Illinois State soccer team, as the `Birds host Central Michigan at 3:30 p.m. at Adelaide Street Field.
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