NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State women's soccer team had its three-game winning streak snapped by Iowa State, Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Street Field, with a 2-0 loss to the visiting Cyclones. Iowa State's Brittany Morgan scored both goals for the Cyclones.
Illinois State applied most of the offense early in the contest, but Iowa State struck first after the Cyclones were awarded a penalty kick following a tackle inside the box by a Redbird defender. Morgan placed the ball into the lower left-hand corner of the goal, just inside the post, to beat an outstretched Mara Kremenovic and give Iowa State the early 1-0 advantage.
"I think that penalty kick was indicative of how the game went for us," head coach Drew Roff said. "We didn't catch many breaks, but a lot of that was because of what we did. Our intensity level wasn't quite as high as it usually is and we seemed a step slow. I give Iowa State a lot of credit, because a lot of that had to do with them. They were quick to the ball and I think they were really determined to bounce back from Friday night's game."
The Redbirds threatened in the second half, with their best chance coming on a shot from Katrina Jakobsze that nearly slipped through the hands of Iowa State keeper Maddie Jobe. After a flurry of shots from Illinois State, the Cyclones countered and Morgan added an insurance goal for Iowa State on the 76th minute. The freshman forward collected a rebound off Erin Green's blocked shot attempt and slipped it just inside the back post to give extend the Cyclone lead to 2-0.
"We had several chances and had opportunities to put one away," Roff said. "Even though we gave up the early penalty kick, we had several chances to tie the game up and gain some momentum. We just couldn't quite find that spark, find that play, or find that goal that was going to turn the tide in the game. It was a frustrating day."
Illinois State outshot Iowa State 15-12, but could not beat Jobe, who collected five saves and gave Iowa State its fifth shutout of the season. Junior forward Jessica Carlson led all players offensively with four shots and Kremenovic tallied three saves in goal for Illinois State.
The Redbirds fall to 4-3-0 on the season, while Iowa State improves to 5-1-2. Illinois State will conclude their non-conference schedule with a pair of road games against Big Ten opponents next weekend. The Redbirds will take on Northwestern, Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Evanston, Ill., before traveling to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1:00 p.m. game with Minnesota on Sunday.
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