NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's soccer team (6-5-2) put out the UIC flames (3-11-0), 4-1, Wednesday night at Adelaide Street. The Redbirds are on a winning streak for the first time this season.
"What we talked about coming into this contest was that it needed to be convincing," said head coach Brad Silvey. "We told them we wanted to make sure that the league, the conference, our institution, and most importantly ourselves, that we are here. We proved that tonight. All of those people know that we are here. We are all here, we are all in, and we showed it tonight."
Illinois State started the first half with their usual domination of offensive possession, outshooting UIC 11-3. Senior Emily Dickman got the Redbirds on the board early with a shot from outside the six, dribbling through defenders and launching it into the upper 90 of the far post. Illinois State carried the 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Redbirds came out hot in the second half, getting multiple shots off early. They conceded a goal in the 70th minute to tie the game 1-1 but a strong run down the field by sophomore Alix McArthur was the spark ISU needed to push their offense. After McArthur was able to push down the field for a long ball played deep into UIC's territory, she earned a corner kick for the 'birds that would change the game. In the same 70th minute as UIC's goal, senior Kelli Zickert played the corner kick to the top of the 18 for Dickman, who found the back of the net with a rocket of a shot. The Redbirds kept the 2-1 lead until the 78th minute when Zickert was able to find the back of the net with a rebound shot off a blocked shot by sophomore Mikayla Unger to give ISU the 3-1 lead. The scoring did not stop there. Unger joined the party in the 81st minute when she also found the back of the net off a cross by freshman Jessica Denney into the 18. The goal gave the Redbirds the 4-1 lead that won them the match.
The Redbirds finished the match with 26 shots, 12 of which were on goal, compared to UIC's seven shots, four of which were on goal. Zickert and Dickman lead the team with six and five shots, respectively. Freshmen Sarah Lafayette and Denney were quick to follow with three shots each. Five other Redbirds recorded at least one shot on the match as well. The victory also gave senior goalkeeper Vanessa Niestrom her first win of the season, where she tallied three saves between the pipes.
"This forward momentum is going to allow us to enter back into conference play with our heads held high knowing that we can do these things that we've been talking about. They can perform at a high level and get results. The tangible energy coming off our team right now from our past three games is pretty exciting. It allows us to have some traction and positive images to keep moving forward." said Silvey.
The Redbirds are back at Adelaide Street Field Saturday, October 7 for a conference matchup against Evansville at 7 p.m. Saturday night will be the team's annual pink game. They will be in pink jerseys and encourage all fans to wear pink.
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