By ISU Sports Information
CHICAGO – A flurry of action near the end of the first half of play told the story, as Illinois State (8-5-2, 2-0-1 MVC) answered a Loyola (4-8-2, 2-1-0 MVC) goal with back-to-back scores of its own just a minute separated to give the Redbirds a 2-1 win at the Loyola Soccer Park Wednesday night.
The Redbird offense was on the attack the entire night, dominating the action with 26 shots to just six for the Ramblers, and ISU put 10 shots on goal to just three for Loyola. The defensive effort for Illinois State was equally impressive as goalkeeper Haley Smith was barely tested, with just one save in 90 minutes of action as she improved to 7-5-2 on the season.
“This was an important game for us for several reasons, so it was great that were able to get a crucial league win on the road against a good Loyola team that was leading the conference,” head coach Eric Golz said. “We needed to respond to a disappointing performance on Sunday, and we did that very well tonight. Our response to going down a goal was very positive, we played some quality soccer and managed the game well in the second half.”
Illinois State pushed the action early on, putting shots on goal and challenging Loyola goalkeeper Maddie Ford. However, the Ramblers would be the first to score at the 34 minute mark, when Ari Banks headed in goal on a feed from Jenna Szczesny to take an early 1-0 lead.
That lead would not last long, as just a minute later Kelly Zickert got a piece of an assist by Emily Dickman and put it in the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1. The game would only be tied for a minute and one second, as Brianne Richards posted up and took a pass from Lauren Koehl and buried it in the back of the net just short of 37 minutes into the game to give Illinois State a 2-1 lead. Neither team would score before the half, and ISU took the advantage into the locker room.
The second half was controlled by the Redbirds, who outshot the Ramblers 12-4 over the final 45 minutes of action. A rocket shot off the foot of Kiley Czerwinski at the 85-minute mark could have put the game away for ISU, but the ball hit the crossbar squarely and bounced off to keep the advantage at one for ISU. The defense held for the Redbirds, and they remained unbeaten in Missouri Valley Conference play while handing Loyola its first conference loss of the season.
“Our midfield did a fantastic job of controlling this game, in particular Brooke Ksiazek and Kelli Zickert both had a big impact,” Golz stated. “We now look forward to building off of this momentum, as we have another difficult league match on the road against a very talented Drake team.”
Zickert led the Redbirds with eight shots, with four on goal, while Koehl finished with six shots and an assist for the Redbirds.
ISU continues its road swing in MVC play, when it travels to Des Moines, Iowa, to face the Bulldogs on Saturday at 7 p.m.
