SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Despite four different Redbirds having a shot on goal, the Illinois State women's soccer team's eight-game winning streak came to an end as it fell 1-0 at Missouri State Thursday to end regular-season play.
Missouri State's Claire Hulcer scored the game-winning goal at the 53-minute mark from the left side, getting around Redbird goalkeeper Sasha Reiber.
The Redbirds finished the regular season 10-6-1 overall and 5-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play to earn their third-straight regular-season conference crown, earning the No. 1 seed and a bye in the first round of the 2009 State Farm MVC Tournament.
With the win, Missouri State will also get a bye in the first round of tournament play and be seeded No. 2, while ending its season 9-5-3 overall and 4-1-1 in Valley play.
"Missouri State had a lot to play for in this game," said head coach Drew Roff. "Getting that second seed was important for them. We did not have a lot at stake as far as the standings were concerned. Missouri State was a bit more motivated today, and it definitely showed on the field. We struggled passing and didn't do things well like we normally do. It is unfortunate to end the regular season this way, but we need to regroup and learn from it. Hopefully, this game was a wakeup call, and we'll spend the next week getting prepared for whoever we play first in the tournament."
On the season, the Redbirds are fourth in program history for points in a season at Illinois State with 96 and goals in a season with 36, tying the program record for most consecutive wins in the season with its eight-game winning streak.
The last time the Redbirds lost a game was Sept. 20, 2009, against DePaul.
Redbirds Jessica Carlson and Ammanda Wisniewski led the team in shots on the game with two, while Carlson finished the regular season leading the team in points (23), shots (52), goals (9) and shots-on-goal (28). MVC Player of the Week (Oct. 26), Alyssa Schulz led the Redbirds in assists with five during the regular-season.
Reiber played all 90 minutes as goalkeeper for the Redbirds and finished the regular season 7-5-1 overall, recording three conference shutouts and five total shutouts on the season. Reiber ranks third at Illinois State for career shutouts with 11.
With the conference title, the Redbirds are set to begin tournament play Friday (Nov. 6) in Omaha, Neb. as the No. 1 seed.
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