TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Illinois State soccer suffers its first defeat in the Missouri Valley Conference after falling 1-0 to Indiana State in Terre Haute, Sunday afternoon.
The Redbirds maintained pressure in the opening 30 minutes of the contest, as Illinois State outpaced the Sycamores in shots 6-3. Sophomore Eve Gricius nearly opened the scoring with a near free-kick miss in the 26th minute. Despite the early momentum in Illinois State's favor to open the game, Indiana State clawed back in the remaining minutes of the half as they outshot the Redbirds 4-1. In the 35th minute, following a save from Redshirt Sophomore Madi Valenti, Sophomore Kaya Durkee made a crucial clearance to keep the contest level at 0-0 heading towards the break.
The battle was maintained to start the second half as each team traded shots in the opening minutes. In the 67th minute, Indiana State would be awarded a penalty kick and would convert its opportunity from the spot to take a 1-0 advantage. Trailing, the Redbirds pushed to find an equalizer, tallying six shots in the closing moments, but were unable to even the contest.
Valenti tallied seven saves in the contest and now sits two saves shy of moving to fifth all-time in Redbird history for individual career saves.
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