By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Illinois State soccer team (12-5-2, 5-0-1 MVC) defeated Northern Iowa (8-7-3, 2-2-2 MVC), 2-0, with two back-to-back goals in the last 10 minutes of the action, to conclude the regular season Thursday night at Adelaide Street Field.
“We are incredibly proud of finishing the league season undefeated,” head coach Eric Golz said. “We put in another solid performance tonight against a well-coached UNI team. Our players and staff deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the progress that this team has made this season.”
Despite outshooting UNI 12-3 in the first half, both teams went into halftime scoreless. The second half started much like the first, scoreless until the last 10 minutes of the game.
In the 79th minute, Kelli Zickert sent a rocket shot outside the 18-yard box that deflected of the crossbar, which landed to the foot of Brianne Richards who buried it in the back of the net. Just a minute later at the 80-minute mark, Zickert capitalized off a cross by Kiley Czerwinski to give Illinois State a 2-0 lead. The defense held for the Redbirds, and they remain unbeaten in the Missouri Valley Conference as well as in their last 12 games.
Overall, the Redbirds finished with a 29-7 advantage in shots, with 10 on goal, while forcing UNI’s Maddie Lesjak to eight saves. Haley Smith made four crucial saves in 90 minutes of action and tallied her seventh shut-out of the season.
“We now look forward to preparing for what will be a very competitive MVC tournament,” Golz said. “We can’t wait to play again in front our fans here at ISU. We know that the students will come out to create a real home field advantage for us!”
The Redbirds will advance to the semifinals of the 2016 MVC Women’s Soccer Championship, Nov. 4, at Adelaide Street Field in Normal. ISU’s opponent will be determined after the opening round on Sunday.
