September 18,
2005 SYCAMORES STUN NATIONALLY RANKED ILLINOIS 2-1 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Indiana State women’s soccer head coach Vernon Croft told his girls that there were still many firsts that the team could accomplish this season. The Sycamores lived up to the coach’s word and beat a nationally ranked Illinois squad 2-1 in Champaign Sunday afternoon. The win marked the first for the Sycamores against the Big Ten and against a nationally ranked opponent. The Illini came into the match with the Sycamores ranked No. 26 by soccerbuzz.com and No. 19 by the Soccer Times. They also carried an impressive home winning streak of 10-0-1 dating back to Nov. 14, 2003 and showed no signs of slowing. That all changed on a game winning goal off the foot of Lauren Podolski with a little more than five minutes left in the game. The shot marked the third point in the game for the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and the first time, this year, a Missouri Valley Conference team has beaten a Big Ten opponent. The Sycamores, statistically, were overwhelmed by the Illini, mustering only 9 shots compared to 22 and 2 shots on goal compared to 8. However the Sycamores would make the two shots count. The first goal came from junior Nichole Tiggs to an empty net off a pass from Podolski that Illinois goalkeeper Lindsey Carstens challenged 18 yards out, but to no avail. The score was the only one for either team in the first half. The Illini would tie the game in the second half when Marti Desjarlais headed the ball near post and past Sycamore goalkeeper Rachel Rudzis. Rudzis would have some revenge three minutes later when her goal kick would put Podolski into range for the game winner. Both teams had played physical ball and Illinois kept their defense high on the field when Rudzis booted the ball over the drawn up defense. Podolski took the ball, beat the keeper and fired the game-winner goal to an open net at the 84:50 mark in the game. “I told the team after the match that this can not be the highlight of the season,” Croft said. “We have a trend of playing poorly on Friday, only to overcome the adversity and play incredibly on Sunday.” The team will get its chance to change the outcomes of Fridays when they face IPFW for the lone match of the week on Sept 23 in Fort Wayne.
|