NORMAL, Ill. - Friday's game was full of firsts for the Illinois State women's soccer team. The Redbirds (3-1-0) suffered their first loss of the season to Western Illinois (4-0-1), 1-0, in overtime. It was the first overtime game of the year for the `Birds and the first time they were held without a goal.
Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Grill-Donovan had four saves in her first loss of the season, the second of her career. Senior midfielder Yvonne Northover paced the Redbirds with three shots and sophomore midfielders Raquel Rattray and Ammanda Wisniewski had two apiece.
Western Illinois was able to slow down the pace of the game and head coach Drew Roff felt that strategy played heavily into the outcome.
"I give Western Illinois credit. Their gameplan was to sit in tight, defend hard and counterattack when it was available, and they followed that," said Roff. "They wanted to slow the game down and they did. That's the thing with soccer; there are a lot of different ways to win a game. This is always a tough way to lose because you feel like you have done all you can to play aggressive, but you have to be careful not to get caught in a counterattack, and we got caught in overtime."
The Westerwinds played tight defense the entire game, content to let the Redbirds control the ball, but limit their scoring chances. ISU had 11 shots in the game, seven in the second half, but none of them were able to find the back of the net.
The defensive strategy worked well for Western Illinois and it didn't take long for it to catch a break in overtime. Just three minutes into the extra time, forward Robyn Ruypers played the ball from the corner into the box where midfielder Keeley Murray was able to knock it in at the far post and clinch Western Illinois' four-straight home victory..
The win was Western Illinois' first-ever against Illinois State in a series that dates back to 1997. The Redbirds now lead the series 3-1-1.
Despite the difficult loss, Roff knows that there are positives to take from it.
"This hopefully will be a good learning experience for us," Roff said. "There will be some teams later in the year that play a similar style and we still have to find a way to get that one goal. Once you score one against a team that plays that way, then they have to come out of their scheme and come forward on the attack more, which allows you to get some opportunities."
The Redbirds host Morehead State on Sunday, September 16, at noon. The game is the first-ever meeting between the Redbirds and the Eagles.
