NORMAL, Ill. - The return home after a long road trip for the Illinois State women's soccer team was bittersweet as the Redbirds (3-5-1) tied Western Illinois (2-2-2), 1-1, in double overtime Friday afternoon. The two goals were scored in the first 12 minutes of the game, but after that neither team could produce a decisive tally. Junior Danielle Mutters provided the scoring for the Redbirds.
Mutters scored her first goal of the season and second of her career with a header in the eighth minute. Junior Raquel Rattray provided the assist on the play; her second-consecutive game with an assist. Sophomore Courtney Blake made her first-career start in goal for ISU and played the entire first half, allowing the one Westerwind goal. Freshman Sasha Reiber saw her first-collegiate action when she held Western Illinois scoreless in the second half and both overtime periods.
"We played well enough to win again and had plenty of opportunities on offense, but just couldn't find that final goal," said ISU head coach Drew Roff. "We had the chances to score, early and often. Unfortunately, we are still just scoring by committee, really lacking that one player to step up consistently on offense. It is frustrating to have the kind of runs on offense and looks at the goal that we did and not score more goals. There were countless shots that went just wise or just high, so we just have to find a way to finish those plays more successfully. We tried something different in goal, giving Courtney and Sasha a chance, and they played well. They have worked hard in training and earned a chance to play today."
The Redbirds dominated the offensive flow of the game, outshooting the Westerwinds 27-5 and holding a 13-0 advantage in corner kicks. ISU had 22 shots in the two regulation periods. Illinois State is now winless in its last six games (0-5-1).
Illinois State had four corner kicks to start the game and capitalized on the final one in the eighth minute. Senior Mel Routledge lofted the corner into play and after it was batted around momentarily, Rattray lofted a high ball over the middle of the penalty box and Mutters headed it into the goal to give ISU a 1-0 lead.
The lead didn't last long, however, as Western Illinois tied the score just five minutes later. On the their first offensive surge of the game, the Westerwinds played the ball from the right side of the field over to the left, where Jill Kevorkian collected it in the open. After a quick dribble, she blasted a shot to the upper part of the net past Blake. Keeley Murray and Ashley Hoch picked up assists on the goal.
From that point on, nearly all of the offensive opportunities belonged to the Redbirds. ISU had four more shots to finish out the first period, the last two of which required saves by Western Illinois goalie Meghan Tyk. The Redbirds kept the pressure on into the second half, peppering Tyk with 10 shots in a 15 minute span. Five of the shots sailed just outside of the net and Tyk saved three of them.
It appeared that the Redbirds had retaken the lead at the 66 minute mark when Mutters made a play on a ball off a scramble from a Routledge corner. The ball came free to Mutters right in front of the goal and she pushed it past Tyk, rolling just over the goal line. As the Redbirds celebrated, however, Western Illinois went on the counterattack, as the goal did not count. Routledge's corner kick had curved out of bounds in the air and came back into play according to the line judge. ISU managed four more shots to close the period, but the game went into overtime.
In the first overtime period, freshman Katrina Jakobsze sent a shot wide and Rattray shot a loose ball just over the crossbar. The story remained the same in the second overtime when sophomore Ruthie Zemke sent a header a little too high and junior Ammanda Wisniewski had two shots that traveled just above the crossbar in the final minutes. Western Illinois nearly scored the golden goal on a shot by Andrea Cain traveled across the front of the goal, past Reiber, but glanced off the far post.
The Redbirds are home again Sunday to face Butler at 2 p.m.
