OMAHA, Neb. - Senior Mel Routledge has been the offensive catalyst for Illinois State recently and she continued that trend in a thrilling way against Creighton Saturday afternoon. Routledge scored the game-winning goal with just 1.4 seconds left in regulation to lift the Redbirds (6-6-1, 1-1-0 MVC) over the Bluejays (8-4-0, 1-1-0), 1-0.
Routledge's goal was her team-leading fifth of the season, all of which have come in the last seven games. She tallied the fifth game-winning goal of her career and first of this season. Routledge and junior Raquel Rattray led the Redbirds with four shots each. Freshman Jess Carlson assisted the game-winning goal, the first of her career.
Freshman Sasha Reiber made the start in goal and had one of the best games of her short career. Reiber made a career-high eight saves to earn her third win of the season and her second-career shutout.
"This was a tremendous game," said ISU head coach Drew Roff. "I have been around soccer for a long time and I can't remember too many games that have come down to a last-second goal like this one did. We haven't had a lot of breaks go our way this year, but we certainly got one today. We played hard again and have something to show for it. We did a great job of keeping possession in the first half, which I think makes us a dangerous team, and had some good scoring opportunities. Creighton had some good scoring opportunities late in the second half, but our defense stood tall and cleared the ball every time."
With 30 seconds left in the game, ISU had a goal kick to start the decisive scoring run. As the clock ticked under 10 seconds, Rattray possessed the ball near midfield and served it into the Creighton zone. Carlson flicked it towards an open space in the middle, where Routledge and three Creighton players converged on it. Despite being slightly behind two Bluejay defenders and having the goalkeeper rushing onto the ball, Routledge managed to beat everyone to the ball, tap it over the goalkeeper's head and inside the near post for the win.
"On that last push we had, I was already mentally preparing myself for overtime," Roff said. "Last-second goals are pretty rare in soccer. Mel did a great job hustling after the ball and made a play when we needed it most. We have talked all year about players stepping up in big situations and this was a perfect example of our lone senior doing just that. I am really happy for her."
The Redbirds had six shots in the first 20 minutes of play, including four with just eight minutes gone on the clock. Two of the shots were blocked and two required saves by Creighton goalkeeper Kristin Casey. Routledge had a pair of shots in the 35th minute, one that was blocked and the other saved.
The offensive pressure continued by ISU as the second period began, with three shots in the first six minutes. Junior Ammanda Wisniewski had a shot in the 47th minute that was saved and freshman Mary Sahm sent a header wide of the net one minute later. Creighton had on offensive flurry in the 62nd minute with three shots. Reiber stood tall, saving the first two and the last went wide right. After ISU saved a header in the 68th minute, ISU mounted a counter attack and Carlson had a shot that was saved. Creighton came right back with a rush of its own, but Reiber came up with another save to preserve the tie. The Redbirds brought the ball back down field again and freshman Katrina Jakobsze sent a shot wide to the right.
Illinois State picked up its first conference win of the season and was the first team to top Creighton at home this year. In fact, Creighton is now 13-2-1 in its last 16 home games, dating back to last season. After a five-game losing streak earlier in the season, ISU is 3-1-1 over its last five games.
"This was a huge bounce back game for us after losing the first conference game to Evansville last weekend," Roff said. "I was interested to see how we would respond after that game. We had an outstanding week of training and really came to play today. It would have been easy for the players to get discouraged after nearly an entire game without a goal again, but they kept up the intensity and it paid off."
The Redbirds visit Iowa State Friday at 4 p.m.
