VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Illinois State women's soccer team was blanked, 1-0, in its Missouri Valley Conference opener after the Beacons scored in the 83rd-minute on Friday evening at Brown Stadium.
The Redbirds (2-7 overall, 0-1 MVC) relentlessly pressured the Beacons' (4-4-1 overall, 1-0 MVC) backline in the match's first 10 minutes, highlighted by a blistering third-minute shot from sophomore Ashlee Bakaitis from 25 yards out that clanked off the post.
Dangerous chances were relatively hard to come by the rest of the way for ISU, but fifth-year senior Sarah LaFayette and junior Allison Baker nearly connected in the 70th minute but the chance was stopped by spring 2021 MVC Goalkeeper of the Year Nikki Coryell, who made seven saves on the match.
Valparaiso's 83rd-minute goal came off a corner kick that was headed in by Dana Fish just two yards off the goal line.
Illinois State held a 17-12 advantage in shots, but Valparaiso posted a 7-2 margin in corner kicks.
The Redbirds lost at Valparaiso for the first time in program history (now 4-1) and had previously won three-straight MVC openers, moving to 14-10-1 all-time in MVC openers (8-7 on the road).
Illinois State is scheduled to face Toledo on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT in its final non-conference match of the season. The match is Redbird Soccer's first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion contest. Orange ribbons will be distributed as part of the team's initiative to create awareness for the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States who endured Residential Schools and Native American Boarding Schools. The student-athletes of the soccer program identified this cause to raise awareness after 1,000 unmarked graves were found at these schools earlier this summer.
QUOTE FROM FIFTH-YEAR HEAD COACH BRAD SILVEY
General Thoughts: "Definitely not the result we wanted. We played a great first half, but missed too many chances to take an early lead. Our inability to score caught up to us in the second half, and conceded the late goal put us in a moment of panic. There were fantastic moments from our team today, but if we want to win, we will need to be more clinical within our attack."
On Sunday match against Toledo: "Quick turnaround to play again at home versus Toledo. This is another opportunity to sharpen and refine as a team. We need to focus on recovery and regroup as we push for our first win on Adelaide this season."
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