Aug. 28, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
Senior Joyce Kleinheinz and freshman Mel Routledge each had two goals in Illinois State's victory over UW-Green Bay. The Redbirds bested the Phoenix, 4-2, Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Street Field in front of a crowd of 202.
Kleinheinz scored early in the game for the `Birds. Just four minutes into the game, on a corner-kick assist from Meghan Boler, Kleinheinz found the goal for the first time this season. At the 22:13 mark, Kleinheinz scored again on an assist from Amanda Lauber. Kleinheinz finished Sunday's game with four shots, all of which were on goal.
Routledge scored the final two goals for Illinois State, both of which came in the second period. Boler provided another assist to Routledge, 24 minutes into the second period. Routledge then broke away from her defender and put the shot past UW-Green Bay's goalkeeper Brooke Wikgren. Just three minutes later (71:19), Routledge took an assist from Yvonne Northover and scored her second goal of the season.
Kleinheinz was impressed with the play of her team, especially the composure and confidence of Routledge.
"Finishing with four goals is a big step for us as a team," Kleinheinz said. "We were able to score the way we know we can which will hopefully build our confidence and momentum. Playing hard the whole game and finishing strong was a great step for our team.
"Mel came in with confidence which is hard to find in a freshman but you can see it when she plays...she has the ability to take people on. You would not think she is a freshman when you see her playing on the field, which is great because anyone that is willing to step up is an asset to this team. Mel's finish today with two goals today was wonderful...I hope she keeps it up."
UW-Green Bay answered Kleinheinz's first goal, seven minutes into the first period. Phoenix midfielder Lotte Rasmussen put the ball past Illinois State's Erica Goethel on a penalty kick to knot the score at 1-1. Goethel would go on to have eight saves on the day, on 13 Phoenix shots.
Rasmussen would score again from seven feet outside the goal, late in the second half to finish the game's scoring at 4-2. She took three shots on the day, all of which were on goal.
Yellow cards were flying Sunday afternoon, as referee Corey Formea flashed three to UW-Greenbay players. Sarah Oligney, Lindsay Cervenko and Stephanie Gross each received a warning by way of a yellow card in the Phoenix loss.
Illinois State head coach Pete Kowall was pleased that his team capitalized on their opportunities and pulled away with a win.
"It's good to score those goals," said Kowall. "We finished on a lot of the chances we had which is something we have been working on in practice. Wisconsin-Green Bay is a good team, they play hard and they created some good opportunities to score. It was a good step for us to come back with a win after Friday's tie. It gives us a little momentum to go into next Friday's game with Ball State and then Saint Louis."
Illinois State ended the weekend homestand with a record of 1-0-1. The Redbirds travel to Ball State on Friday for a 4:00 p.m. match with the Cardinals. They then continue the roadtrip with a game on Sunday September 4 at Saint Louis at 1:00 p.m.
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