The Illinois State soccer team fell 2-0 to the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon in Springfield, Mo. Senior goalkeeper Haley Smith made five saves on the day off 17 shots faced.
The Redbirds finish the year, 14-6, while the Ramblers improve to 14-4-1 and will secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"At the end of the day, I'm super proud of this group and what they accomplished this year," said head coach Brad Silvey. "This senior class did their part in getting us back on track on a championship-trajectory, and to be in a Valley championship game is a great achievement for this team. Hopefully this serves as motivation for the future of our team and this program to get us back here and a game farther next year."
Loyola outshot the Redbirds, 14-2, in the first half. In the first three minutes of play, three different Ramblers combined to take five shots, with two of them ricocheting off the crossbar. The Redbirds held Loyola off until the 40th minute when Sienna Cruz broke through to give the Ramblers a 1-0 lead heading into the second half.
Loyola's junior midfielder Lindsey Hardiman tallied the Ramblers' final goal of the day in the 55th minute.
Smith made all five of her saves in the first half. Junior forward Natalie Vaughn-Low recorded a team-high two shots in the match. Smith, junior Alissa Ramsden and senior Megan McEachern all played the full 90 minutes.
At the conclusion of the game, Smith, Vaughn-Low and Kate Del Fava were announced as MVC All-Tournament Team selections. Del Fava was also recognized as the Elite 17 Award winner, an award presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing in the MVC championship.
For all latest on Illinois State soccer, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
