NORMAL, Ill. – Mikalya Carkhuff's penalty kick in the 93rd minute sent No. 3-seeded Illinois State soccer to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals with a 1-0 overtime victory over No. 6-seeded Evansville on Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Street Field.
The win extends the Redbirds' home unbeaten streak to 17 games, which is tied with Duke for the third-longest active streak in Division I.
"I know this tournament is something the girls have really been looking forward to," said head coach Raleigh DeRose. "I tell our team all the time that we run hard, we train hard, we lift hard, and that always comes into fruition in the moments that it needs to the most."
After 90 minutes of scoreless action, the Redbirds found the game-winner just over two minutes into overtime. Rylie Monahan drew a foul inside the penalty area, setting up Carkhuff for a penalty kick. Carkhuff converted the opportunity in the 93rd minute to extend Illinois State's postseason run. It marked Carkhuff's third goal this season and the first penalty kick conversion of her career.
"It felt amazing," Carkhuff said of her game-winner. "There were a lot of nerves going into it knowing we're in overtime and everything is counting on this. I just wanted to put it away, so I took a deep breath, and now we're here with a win."
The penalty kick marked the second time this season Illinois State converted a penalty kick against Evansville and the Redbirds' fourth successful penalty kick of the season. The four made penalty kicks are the most by an Illinois State team in a season since 2001.Â
In the teams' regular-season meeting, Sosi Dadekian converted a penalty kick with 26 seconds remaining to help the Redbirds earn a 2-2 draw. This time, the coaching staff elected to give Carkhuff the opportunity, trusting both players' ability to convert while presenting a different look to the Evansville goalkeeper.
"We know Mikayla and Sosi are both confident with their penalty kicks, and we know they're both really good at them, but we wanted to give it to Mikayla since she hadn't been up against that goalkeeper before," said DeRose.
Illinois State controlled much of the offensive action, outshooting Evansville 19-7, including a 10-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Redbirds also held a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
Madi Valenti, the back-to-back MVC Goalkeeper of the Year, recorded two saves to earn her 10th victory of the season and her 26th career shutout, tying the Illinois State program record that was set by Haley Smith from 2016-19.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will play No. 2 seed Southern Illinois in the MVC Semifinals on Thursday at 3 p.m. CT in Carbondale, Illinois. The match will be streamed on ESPN+
