By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – The Illinois State soccer team captured its first win of the season with a 4-0 victory over Eastern Illinois Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Street Field. With the victory, the Redbirds improve to 1-3-0 on the season, while the Panthers fall to 0-3-0 overall.
ISU dominated the match both offensively and defensively, keeping its composure in the back and controlling the game up front while netting a pair of goals in each half. The Redbirds outshot EIU, 38-1, with 23 shots on goal. The Panthers only shot was also on goal, which was a non-threating attempt almost 30 yards out.
“I thought we did a really good job of controlling the tempo of the game today,” coach Eric Golz said. “I thought our defensive organization and pressure was great; our transition into defense was very quick, which limited the amount of time we spent defending. And we were defending smaller portions of the field, so that allowed us to win the ball back fairly quickly. I thought we were really good with our possession and the tempo of circulating the ball; our movement off the ball created dangerous chances to score, and we created a number of chances today. We dictated the tempo today; we did some really good things.”
Freshman Abby Basler tallied her first career goal as a Redbird in the 21st minute of the match. She took three shots throughout the contest, with all three on goal.
Junior Kelli Zickert also scored first goal of the season, following Basler, in the 22nd minute, with an assist from senior Lauren Koehl, which came off a rebound from Koehl’s attempt. Zickert would finish with five shots, with three on goal as well.
Koehl extended the lead to 3-0 in the second half with her first goal of the season, as senior Brooke Ksiazek found her in the box. Koehl finished with a match-high eight shots total, including five on goal.
Senior Brianne Richards closed the match with the fourth and final goal for the Redbirds in the 85th minute. Freshman Kate Del Fava produced a header attempt, forcing EIU goalkeeper Sara Teteak to come out for the save, allowing Richards to go in off the rebound and score on a header, which gave Del Fava the assist.
Senior defender Sara Stankoskey anchored the Redbird defense, playing all 90 minutes and taking control of the backfield.
Sunday was also Heidecke Day for the Redbirds, honoring former player Julie Heidecke. This year’s recipient will be announced at the end of the season.
On April 29, 1998, Illinois State soccer player Julie Heidecke was involved in an automobile accident that tragically ended her life. In her one season with the Redbirds, Heidecke’s personality and demeanor inspired teammates and coaches. As a result, former head coach Pete Kowall, the Julie Heidecke Foundation and ISU Athletics established an award in her memory to recognize a Redbird soccer player following Heidecke’s path in commitment, spirit, determination, leadership, sportsmanship, academics, morality and concern for others.
“It’s a really special day and it’s a really special weekend for our program, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the program and have some alumni back with us, including four members from the original 1996 team, but also to celebrate and memorialize Julie and her life and impact and legacy that she left on this program,” Golz said. “I think our players did a really good job of honoring that today with their hard work and winning performance. We discussed it quite a bit this week; we wanted to honor Julie and we think we did that.”
The Redbirds return to action Friday, Sept. 2 when they head to South Bend, Indiana, to take on Notre Dame. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT.
