NORMAL, Ill. - With three forwards finding opportunities to score and stingy defense in the backfield, the Illinois State women's soccer team shut out Oakland 3-0 on Friday at Adelaide Street Field, as Ammanda Wisniewski, Mel Routledge and Bethany Russ all netted shots for the `Birds. The Redbirds move to 2-2-1 on the season, as Oakland falls to 1-4.
The `Birds wasted no time setting the tone for Friday's afternoon match, as Wisniewski found the back of the net for her third goal of the season in just the seventh minute of the game. Meghan Boler took a corner kick from the near north corner of the field, finding the freshman forward in front of the Oakland goal. Wisniewski headed the ball towards the net for a shot, though it was blocked by a Golden Grizzly defender. She then rebounded her first shot, booting the ball past OU goalie Kim Herbst for the game's first score.
Boler's assist, her third of the season and 11th of her career, moves her into a tie at second for career assists. The senior captain holds second place with former Redbird Tiffany DeClark, needing just one more assist to move into a tie for first place with another former `Bird, 2004 senior Michelle Brumbaugh.
Play was concentrated on the `Birds offensive side of the field in the first half, with Illinois State out-shooting the Golden Grizzlies, 14-2. One of those shots came from Oakland's Kristi Tomczyk, who kicked a floating chip shot from just outside the box that caught Illinois State's goalie Andrea Shaw off the line. However, Shaw recovered and was able to punch the ball out of danger with 11:54 remaining in the first half. Shaw ended with five saves on the night, and recorded the decision for the `Birds.
Scoring continued for the Redbirds in the second half, as Russ, a junior, took a feed from freshman Raquel Rattray, shooting a high goal past Herbst for the `Bird's second score at the 54:55 mark. The goal was Russ' first offensive statistic of the season, though the midfielder has started in four of ISU's five games. Rattray notched her first assist on the year, in her first collegiate start.
Wisniewski had a second scoring opportunity just three minutes later, inside the 57-minute mark, as she took a pass from a Redbird defender to find a wide-open midfield. The freshman broke away, dribbling towards the goal, and launched a shot that was just high of the OU goal. Wisniewski ended with four shots on the day, in 51 minutes of action.
Adding a security goal in the 76th minute was Routledge. Her second goal of the season was unassisted, as the sophomore took a shot that bounced off the Herbst's hands. Routledge rebounded that first shot, putting it in the back of the net for the `Birds' third score. She finished with six shots on the night, five of which were on goal.
Illinois State head coach Pete Kowall was impressed with the way his team moved the ball and got in the box, creating chances to score.
"As a coach, you never want one person scoring 15 to 20 goals in a season and then no one else scoring any," said Kowall. "So, you want to share the wealth, so to speak, and move the ball around so defenders can't pick somebody out. I think we did that today and gave some new people the opportunity to score."
Illinois State outshot Oakland, claiming a 25-7 overall shot advantage. The `Birds also took five corner kicks, while the Grizzlies took none.
"We've been aggressive all week, trying to get the team to move forward and create shots and that's what we did," continued Kowall. "We wanted to jump on the opponent early and play a complete game, the whole 90 minutes. We've got to pass to one another and create combinations, instead of just kicking the ball. We'll look to continue today's style of play into Sunday and gain some momentum."
The Redbirds travel to Dayton, Ohio, Sunday for a 10 a.m. matchup with the Dayton Flyers.
