Milwaukee, Wis. -- Illinois State traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon to open up regular season play and take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Ashley Santos had her first two career goals in the match, but the Redbirds fell to Marquette 2-3, in a close match.
This match pitted Illinois State in another tough defensive first half, which saw the two teams go scoreless. Redshirt sophomore Priya Gillan collected an impressive five saves through the first 45 minutes of play. The Redbirds fired one shot on goal in the half coming from senior Ashley Santos.
The Golden Eagles struck early in the second half with a goal from senior Kylie Sprecher. The Marquette lead didn't last long though as Ashley Santos found the ball and navigated it through a crowd in front of the net for the Redbird goal, the first of her career at ISU. Santos' goal was assisted by freshman Haley Glover.
The game didn't stand even at 1-1 for long, as Marquette freshman Elsi Twombly found the back of the goal. Marquette added to their lead with another goal coming in the 74th minute from senior Elaina Eckert, to make the game 3-1.
Ashley Santos added to the score sheet again, notching her second goal of the game and her career in the 78th minute. The 'Birds fought hard to force overtime, but ultimately came up short to the Golden Eagles.
The starting eleven logged some heavy minutes in the match for the Redbirds with six players playing all 90 minutes.
The Redbirds are set to take part in another exhibition game this week. The team heads to Pekin, Ill. for a neutral site game vs UIS on Thursday, February 11 at 8:30 p.m.
For all the latest on Illinois State soccer, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
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