NORMAL, Ill. – No. 4 Illinois State soccer falls to No. 6 UIC, 2-1 on penalties, in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship Game at Adelaide Street Field Sunday afternoon.
In the opening moments of the contest, both teams battled to find an early advantage as both squads found opportunities within the first 10 minutes of play. Senior Cyerra Hibbert drew a save from the Flames goalkeeper just three minutes after kickoff. Despite the hot start from Illinois State, UIC responded with an opportunity for themselves off a corner kick. As the ball was delivered within the six-yard box, Redshirt Sophomore Madi Valenti made a diving effort to her left to keep the score level at 0-0.
As both teams maintained their pressure in the rest of the first half, neither team could find an advantage entering the break as the score remained even at 0-0. The Redbirds outpaced the Flames in shots with a 5-3 advantage at the end of the first half.
To begin the second half, the Flames pushed to find an opening goal with three shots and limited the Redbirds to no shots in the first 15 minutes of the final period of regulation. As the temperature dropped and flurries began to fall, UIC continued to push for a game-winning goal in the second. However, the Redbirds' defense held strong and shut down the goal-scoring opportunities from the Flames. Valenti tallied three saves in the closing moments of regulation as the game entered overtime at 0-0.
In each of the overtimes, each squad found opportunities that forced saves from the opposing goalkeeper but were unable to score. Valenti recorded a save with less than two minutes remaining to force the contest to the penalty shootout.
The Redbirds close out their season with an 8-6-8 record after making their first appearance in the MVC Championship Game since 2019. Illinois State's win total marks the most by a Redbird squad since 2019 and most in a season under second-year head coach Raleigh DeRose.
Despite the defeat on penalty kicks, Illinois State tallied its 13th shutout of the season, which sets a new program record for the Redbirds. The total also ties for the most by a Missouri Valley Conference team in a single season.
Redshirt Sophomore Madi Valenti earned her 12th shutout of the season, which sets a new MVC record by a goalkeeper in a season. Valenti was named to the MVC All-Tournament team after posting back-to-back shutouts.
Sophomore Chloe Cline and Senior Abby Hall joined Valenti in receiving MVC All-Tournament team recognition for their game-winning goals on Illinois State's path to the conference title game.
The Redbirds had four players tally at least 1900 minutes across the 2025 campaign, which is the second most in program history. Sophomore Kaya Durkee led Illinois State with 1996 minutes, which is the third most in a season in program history. Valenti recorded 1958 minutes, which is the most by a Redbird goalkeeper in program history. Valenti also tallied 22 matches played, which ties for the most in school history. Senior Jade Rehberger tallied 1929 minutes this season and played in 6420 minutes across her career, which sits seventh all-time. Freshman Grace Petrie tallied 1934 minutes, which is the most since a Redbird in a season since Kate Del Fava (2016-2019) in 2016.
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