KENT, Ohio - A late goal from senior Alyssa Schulz propelled the lllinois State women's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Kent State on Sunday afternoon at the Kent State Soccer Field. All three goals were scored in the final 10 minutes of the contest, with Schulz's game-winner coming in the 88th minute.
"The game was similar to the other night in that there were no goals in the first 80 minutes and then in the last 10 minutes there were lots of fireworks," head coach Drew Roff said. "Our first goal came on a great hustle play by Rachel Bostick. She was able to deflect the goalkeeper's clearance straight into the goal."
After 80 minutes of scoreless soccer, Bostick found the back of the net on a deflection off Kent State goalkeeper Kelly Sherwood to give the Redbirds a 1-0 lead in the 81st minute.
The Golden Flashes responded quickly, scoring a goal just six minutes later. Jessacca Gironda netted her first goal of the season, on an assist by Morgan Mah, to even the score at 1-1, with just over three minutes to play.
"After the goal, we tried to ride the game out and kill the clock, but unfortunately they were putting some pressure on and got a deflection off of one of our defenders, and it went in," Roff said. "It's always tough to give up a goal that late, especially when you are protecting a lead, but our team bounced back, they regrouped, and Mary played a great ball to Alyssa and she got behind the defense, went straight to goal and finished. It wasn't pretty, but we grinded it out and I am very proud of our effort. They showed physical and mental toughness today and that is what it takes to get road wins."
A minute after Kent State scored the equalizer, junior Mary Sahm played a ball through to Schulz who scored from 12 yards out to give ISU the 2-1 win in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Sophomore Mara Kremenovic collected eight saves in goal for the Redbirds to earn her first collegiate victory. Junior Jessica Carlson and freshman Kyla Cross led Illinois State offensive with three shots each.
"Mara was very solid in goal and there is always that one save you have to make to change the game, and Mara made that save on a breakaway," Roff said. "One of their players got in the box, was isolated, and tried to put it past her, but Mara was able to get a piece of it, find the loose ball, and quickly smother it. Our defense really stepped it up today, especially Natalie McCabe and Allie Newsom. They were a big part of the win today and played really well for us."
The Redbirds even their record at 1-1-0 with the win and will return to action Aug. 27 when they host Eastern Michigan at 4 p.m. for their home opener. Kent State falls to 0-1-0 and travels to Cleveland State for their next match Aug. 29.
"I'm really looking forward to being back home after a long trip where we played two really good teams from the MAC (Mid-American Conference)," Roff said. "I knew it would be a challenge and I think we learned a lot from these two games. The most important thing is that the team is coming together and games like today kind of bring the team a little bit closer. We got our first win and our first goal of the season, and it is always nice to get those firsts out of way. Now, we are really looking forward to playing the next three games at home."
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