Sept. 24, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Sophomore Mo Redmond made a penalty kick in the 97th minute to halt the Missouri soccer team's two-game skid and give the Tigers a 3-2 overtime victory over the Illinois State Redbirds Sunday afternoon at Walton Stadium. Down 1-0 and 2-1 at different points in the game, Mizzou (8-2-0, 0-1-0) battled back to knot the game at 2-2 and sent the match into overtime. Illinois State dropped to 3-4-2 on the season.
"We're proud of our kids because this was a total team effort," said Missouri Head Coach Bryan Blitz. "Illinois State was fresh, they're well coached and they're a good team, to keep coming down and scoring while behind was impressive. I feel this is a turning point for us because that was a tough loss of Friday and we were mature enough to move past it."
With the game tied 2-2 with just over three minutes left in overtime, Mizzou earned a penalty kick when senior Meggie Malm was brought down in the box by Redbird Shannon Durocher. Redmond calmly stepped to the ball and knocked the penalty kick into the left side of the net for a 3-2 Tiger win.
Illinois State struck first when Meghan Boler sent a through ball up to Bethany Russ. Russ entered the box and sent a shot just over the extended arms of sophomore goalie Mallory Forst for a 1-0 Redbird lead in the 12th minute.
In the 35th minute, a pair of Tiger seniors combined to tie the game at 1-1 after the Illinois State defense cleared away a shot from freshman Kristin Andrighetto for a Tiger corner. Elyse Nikonchuk jumped above the pack and headed home the Aria Hudetz's left-footed corner kick from 12-yards out. The goal was the third of the season for Nikonchuk.
With the game still tied at 1-1 in the 50th minute, Redbird Jaclyn Rucinsky collected a cross from Mel Routledge and tapped a shot over the goal line to give Illinois State a 2-1 advantage.
One minute later, however, sophomore Janelle Cordia ran down a pass from Redmond and chipped a 15-yard shot over the Redbird keeper to tie the game up a 2-2. Hudetz also assisted on the goal.
The score remained tied despite chances for both teams. Successive Illinois State shots hit the crossbar and post and the Redmird goalkeeper corralled a one-time from Malm off an Andrighetto rebound.
Missouri immediately took control of the overtime period as Andrighetto lead the charge with two shots until Malm earned Mizzou's penalty kick.
The Tigers outshot the Redbirds 26-9, including a 17-3 advantage in the second half.
"I think we forgot how hard it is to win because we had been scoring quickly," said Redmond. "Elyse's goal definitely got us back on track but I felt the game turned in the second half because we were able to get forward more. The game began going our way and we created a lot of chances."
The Tigers continue their four game home stand Big 12 foes Texas Tech and Baylor on Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m., respectively. Mizzou then travels to Norman, Okla., for a conference matchup with Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 6 and faces Oklahoma State on Sunday, Sept. 8 in Stillwater, Okla.