Illinois State got some sweet revenge on Sunday defeating Creighton in a shootout, five penalty kicks to four in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. After being in the title match three times, the Birds walk away with the crown and a trip to the NCAA College Cup.
Weve won four regular season titles, but its great to get this one, head coach Pete Kowall said. We prepared all week with different scenarios because its all about situational plays at this point. This win is mostly for these girls, but its also for everyone thats been involved with our program like past players and coaches and our athletic department. Weve been close and now weve kind of got that off our backs (falling in the title game twice). Creighton is a great team and they put a lot of pressure on us today. But I think the difference between this years game and last years is that were deeper this year and we werent as beaten up as the year before. We practiced penalty kicks for a long time and we knew we were good at this so we were confident. We used the same players for penalty kicks as last year so that experience was invaluable.
It was a physical game from start to finish as 44 fouls were called, 30 on Creighton, and four yellow cards were awarded. Every time one team made a move the other team countered, keeping the game scoreless throughout regulation and two overtime periods. At the end of the second overtime period, the Redbird had taken 11 shots to the Bluejays 18 and each team had five shots on goal. Despite being outshot 9-1 in overtime, Illinois State was able to hold on and send the game to a shootout.
Taking the penalty kicks for Illinois State were Diana Puckett, Robyn Brady, Lindsey Soderborg, Lauren Kahlenbeck and Heather Forsyth. All the kicks for both teams were good until Creightons Kelan Brill (their fourth kicker) came up and had her shot saved by Illinois State goalkeeper Allison Farrington. The momentum took a big swing in Illinois States favor after that and junior Heather Forsyth was able to connect for the game winner.
From day one we said all youve got to do is save one and we did and it was a great feeling, Farrington said. Everyone played awesome today. Chrystal shut down their best player (LuLu Quigley) and Heather (Forsyth) played phenomenal. Everyone just did great.
Forsyth, a defender and the regular season Valley Player of the Year, paced Illinois State with three shots followed by forward Michelle Brumbaugh with two. Farrington recorded the shutout for the Birds, her tenth of the season. She had five saves in the match. The Bluejays were led by Regina Moench and Lissa Waid with four shots apiece.
Farrington, Tiffany DeClark and Forsyth were named to the All-Tournament Team, while the tournaments most prestigious honor went to senior midfielder Chrystal Johnson, who was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In addition to the all-tournament awards the Redbirds received, DeClark was named the Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Championship Game for the second consecutive year and Johnston was named GHP Player of the Game.
Illinois State will find out who they will play on Monday at 3 p.m. CST when the 64-team Division I Womens Soccer Championship bracket is announced on ESP-News.
