NORMAL, Ill. - Competing for the second time this spring, the Illinois State women's soccer team defeated DePaul, 3-0, at the Illinois Cup in Champaign, Ill., on Sunday, April 1, to take third in the spring tournament, which featured eight teams from across the Midwest. Redshirt freshman Megan Christiansen scored all three goals to secure the Redbird victory.
In the first game of the day, ISU played to a 0-0 regulation tie with Northwestern but used penalty kicks to defeat the Wildcats in a shootout, advancing in the tournament winner's bracket. The `Birds then played to a 1-1 tie with Northern Illinois before falling in a similar penalty kick shootout. Sophomore Mel Routledge, who started all 18 of the team's 2006 contests, scoring three goals and notching two assists, scored the `Birds lone goal of the game to force the shootout.
Playing for the third-place spot, Illinois State took on DePaul in the final game of the day and downed the Blue Demons 3-0 in regulation. Christiansen, who appeared in 10 games in the fall and took just five total shots in 2006, scored each of the Redbirds goals in the win.
ISU head coach Drew Roff believes his team took a step forward with their play over the weekend.
"Our goal is to get better every week and I think we achieved that on Sunday," said Roff. "Megan took advantage of her opportunities in front of the goal and provided a much-needed scoring punch. Our defense was solid in all three games and we only allowed one goal. We played quality opponents and they exposed some of our weaknesses but we worked to correct those mistakes and competed hard. There were some definite bright spots this weekend and we are getting better with each game we play."
The Redbirds will host Western Illinois (10 a.m.) and Wisconsin (5 p.m.) on April 14 at Adelaide Street Field for the final matches of the 2007 spring season.
