MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Illinois State soccer team battled for 90 minutes Wednesday night against Milwaukee, but fell 2-1 to the Panthers at Engelmann Stadium in Milwaukee. The Redbirds rallied once to tie the score, but their furious attempt to find an equalizer at the end of the match would come up empty.
Kelly Lewers scored first for Milwaukee, emerging from a scrum inside the box to put a shot past Aryn Newsom in the 28th minute. Down 1-0, ISU started to move the ball better on offense and got the equalizer eight minutes later from Rachel Tejada. Dagny Olson gave a through ball up the middle of the field that Tejada and the UWM keeper converged on. Tejada beat Paige Lincicum to the ball, knocked it to open space on the right side of the penalty box and finished with an empty net.
The goal was Tejada's tenth of the season and it was the sixth-straight game she scored in. The assist was Olson's third of the season.
The teams went to the half tied at one, but it was not long into the second half that Milwaukee retook the lead. In the 59th minute, Morgan LaPlant served a cross into the box from the right side and Maria Stephans flicked the ball perfectly to the weak side of the goal.
The Redbirds picked up the pace and the urgency increased as the minutes ticked off the clock. However, they could never find the equalizer. Multiple times shots were close, but they either missed the net or Lincicum made one of her nine saves.
ISU outshot UWM 17-15 and held the advantage in corner kicks 7-4. In the net, Newsom made six saves, one shy of her season-high. Tejada led the Redbirds with seven shots while Hannah Leinert fired four.
The Redbirds drop to 7-5 on the season and will now shift their focus to Valley play. The next five games on ISU's schedule are against MVC opponents, with Saturday's match at Evansville being the marquee game on the conference schedule.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday and a live audio broadcast will be carried on GoRedbirds.com.
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