IOWA CITY, Iowa - Redbirds Mary Sahm and Jess Carlson led the Illinois State women's soccer team as it opened its spring season with a win over North Dakota State, 4-0, and a tie with Iowa, 3-3, Saturday at Iowa City, Iowa.
Carlson had four assists with one goal, and Sahm had two assists with two goals at the indoor, 70 minute, nine vs. nine events.
"It was nice to play some games against other schools again," said head coach Drew Roff. "It was great to see so many of our younger players play with confidence and perform at a high level. We scored seven times on the day and all of them were either scored or assisted by one of our freshmen. Carlson and Sahm in particular have really raised their level lately in training and it showed over the weekend. I thought the experienced group of Danielle Mutters, Amy Heredia and Shannon Eccleston in the back was very strong all day and as always, Raquel Rattray held everything together for us in the middle of midfield. We played every player on our roster considerable minutes and I felt that each player was responsible for getting our spring season off to a very good start."
Redbirds Natalie McCabe, Danielle Mutters and Rocky Rattray all added to the Redbirds' offense by scoring one goal each.
"I think that many of our players showed an improved first touch on the ball which really allowed us to connect our passes and play a good brand of soccer," said Roff. "We were able to possess the ball with a purpose and we really took advantage of our opportunities in front of the goal."
The Redbirds will continue their spring schedule at home against Eastern Illinois March 28 at 10 a.m. at Adelaide Street Field.
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