Redbirds Defeat Sycamores 1-0 in Overtime Battle

Posted on November 5, 2016

By ISU

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State soccer team defeated Indiana State 1-0 in overtime of the semifinal match of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday night at Adelaide Street Field.

The win ties the 2016 Redbirds for the longest unbeaten streak in program history. The 2013 team also had a 13-game unbeaten streak in their run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“They did a lot of things to make it difficult for us to score, they played with basically 11 players behind the ball. Credit goes to them, I thought they were very well organized and they defended very well as a team,” head coach Eric Golz said. “At the end of the day, we found a way…We knew we weren’t going to get a picturesque opportunity to score a goal…We made something out of nothing and Koehl’s been doing that all year and she did another great job of doing it again today.”

The first half was a battle of the defenses. Both teams had limited offense and tough defense, ISU ending the half with only five shots to Indiana State’s two. The second half was run by the Redbirds, as they tallied 11 shots on the half to Indiana State’s three.

With a scoreless draw after 90 minutes, both teams were on the offensive for the 10-minute overtime, each tallying two shots. In the 99 th minute of play, senior Lauren Koehl proved her rite to the title of MVC Player of the Year with the game-winning goal to advance the Redbirds to the championship match Sunday. Koehl was able to find the back of the net after a corner kick by sophomore Kiley Czerwinski put the ball inside the six.

“We are extremely confident in our team and in our group. We know if plan A isn’t working we’ll go to plan B and if plan B isn’t working we’ll go to plan C. We’ll find a way,” Golz said.

The No. 1 Redbirds return to action Sunday at Adelaide Street Field for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship against the No. 2 Purple Aces of Evansville. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.

GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.

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