NORMAL, Ill. - Trailing by a single goal at the half, the Illinois State women's soccer needed to find the goal for the chance to defeat Ball State in the second 45 minutes. Senior captain Jaclyn Rucinsky responded by netting her first goal of the season, knotting the score and providing that opportunity. But the Redbirds couldn't capitalize, as ISU and the Cardinals battled to a double-overtime, 1-1, tie.
A cloudy and rainy afternoon provided the setting for the Sunday-afternoon draw. Illinois State has yet to pick up a win on the 2006 season, falling to 0-1-1 in the regular season. Ball State moves to 1-0-1 on the season.
The `Birds saw their first real chance to score in the 14th minute when a long ball was booted across the midfield mark by Danielle Mutters. Sophomore Melissa Routledge chased the ball and took a shot from the top of the box, but it was saved by BSU goalie Rachael Murphy. Routledge continued her attack just inside the 30 minute mark when she passed the ball upfield to Ammanda Wisniewski, who cut to the inside of the goal. Wisniewski's ensuing shot was blocked by a BSU defender.
With 16:00 left in the first half, Bethany Russ fed the ball to Wisniewski, who dribbled down to the outside of the box and crossed the ball to the inside of the goal. The ball skipped past the BSU goalkeeper and Illinois State's Routledge, who just missed catching up to the ball and the open-goal opportunity.
Illinois State head coach Pete Kowall was pleased with the intensity and passion he saw from Routledge, who scored seven goals in 2005.
"Today was a good day for Mel," said Kowall. "She was more mobile up front, which is how we like her to play. She started to play like her old self again and that is good to see. We have to get her to score that first goal and it will all come back to her. It's just coming a little more slowly than it did last year but she is still very solid for us."
Ball State took over the attack at the 37:38 mark, as defender Sarah Schumaker took a shot from the far right post. The ball snuck past ISU goalie Andrea Shaw, and connected with the net from 10 yards out. Senior midfielder Vandi Ogden was credited with the assist.
Illinois State's Shannon Duggan attempted to tie the game with just 5:00 left in the first half, as the junior launched a long shot from 35-yards out, hitting the crossbar of Ball State's goal and soaring out-of-bounds. The Redbirds were trailing at the half, 1-0.
Junior goalkeeper Erica Goethel took over goalie responsibilities in the second half, notching 63 minutes on the afternoon. The appearance marked her first minutes in the regular-season as the Ann Arbor, Mich., native notched three saves.
"Erica is a pretty athletic player and she's quietly confident now," said Kowall. "She has had some injuries in the past that have limited her playing time but she is training hard and playing a lot better."
Just 7:00 into the second half, seeing her first minutes as a Redbird, redshirt freshman Megan Christiansen took a cross from sophomore Katelyn Prorok and fired a low shot into the BSU goal. Christiansen's shot was saved by Murphy, as the battle continued.
At the 72:12 mark, Illinois state was awarded a corner kick that was taken by senior forward Meghan Boler. Boler launched a high kick into a cluster around the net, and found fellow captain Rucinsky. Rucinsky played her ball to the right side of the goal and connected from three yards out to knot the score at 1-1.
Just three minutes later, with 15:00 left to play, Routledge took a shot that looked to be the go-ahead-goal. Her ball trickled just wide of the left crossbar and was Illinois State's last real chance of the half.
Routledge, who finished with five shots, and Wisniewski, who added seven shots on the afternoon, each took a pair of shots in the two overtime periods but neither could convert, ending in the final score.
"We created enough chances to score today, but we gave up a bad goal and that was disappointing," said Kowall, who team lost to UW-Green Bay on Friday. "It is still early in the season so we have to learn from it. Right now we just have to correct our mistakes and move forward. We made some progress. A tie is never what we want but it isn't a loss like Friday's game at Green Bay. We have to work on finishing our opportunities and continue to not be frustrated and get better technically. We need to finish these games off instead of waiting for something to happen."
Illinois State continues its homestand on Friday, Sept. 1, as the `Birds host Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. at Adelaide Street field.
