Spirited Effort Falls Just Short in 2-1 Loss to Illinois State

Friday, September 14

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

1-6-0

Illinois State

4-2-2

Illinois State

Bowling Green

September 14, 2012 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Sidney Huth's late goal not quite enough for comeback

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Jenna Underwood v Illinois State - Sept 14 2012 - Enright

A spirited effort by the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team fell just short, as the Falcons dropped a 2-1 decision to visiting Illinois State University Friday evening (Sept. 14). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Field.

ILLINOIS STATE 2, BGSU 1 - PDF Boxscore
ILLINOIS STATE 2, BGSU 1 - HTML Stats
PHOTO GALLERY - John Enright, BGSU Athletic Communications
Scroll to the bottom of the page for postgame interviews with Jenna Underwood & Kellie Evans

With the win, the Redbirds improve to 4-2-2 on the season. The Falcons drop to 1-6-0 on the year.

Rachel Tejada, one of the nation's leading scorers, had a three-point night. She assisted on the opening goal of the match, a 51st-minute shot by Kyla Cross, then scored her 10th goal of the year in the 69th minute.

Sophomore Sidney Huth cut the Falcons' deficit in half with 1:52 remaining in the match. The home side threatened in the waning seconds, but could not get a potential game-tying shot.

For the match, BGSU outshot the Redbirds by a 19-12 count. The Falcons' shot total was just one away from matching the team's season high. ISU had a slim 7-6 advantage in shots on goal, with four of those seven shots coming from Tejada.

Freshman Jenna Underwood made her first collegiate start in goal, and had five saves in her complete-match effort. For the visitors, Mara Kremenovic also had five stops in 90 minutes.

Underwood was tested early, as Cross fired a shot on goal just over two and a half minutes into the match. The BG freshman made her first save of the night on that shot, and proceeded to keep the explosive Redbird offense off of the scoreboard for the first half.

Tejada, who entered the weekend ranked third in the nation in goals and second in the country in goals per game, had several dangerous scoring chances on the night. In the ninth minute of the match, Gabbi McArtor played a cross into the box from the left side. Tejada, running toward the ball, threw her right leg into the air and backheeled a shot that curved just wide of the right post. Several minutes later, McArtor looked to move toward the net, but BG sophomore Kaylee Draper did well to take the ball off of McArtor's foot.

One-third of the way through the half, an ISU corner kick sailed into the box, where it was deflected out toward the penalty spot. The Redbirds' Ali Farkos picked up the ball near the top of the box and fired a hard shot, but Underwood made the save and covered up.

Meanwhile, though, the Falcons were mounting periodic threats at the other end. A long entry pass from junior Alyssa Carmack found classmate Madeline Wideman. Wideman controlled the ball, made several moves to keep it away from multiple ISU defenders, and fired a long shot that curved just wide of the far post.

Tejada was at the end of a lengthy passing sequence for the visitors. McArtor's pass into the box found the ISU sophomore, who turned and fired. But, Underwood had come out of the net to cut down the shooting angle, and the Falcon freshman made the point-blank save on Tejada's turnaround try.

At the half-hour mark, Carmack's long free kick from the right side of the field sailed into the penalty box and preceded a Falcon flurry. Both senior Sarah VonderBrink and junior Tracy Togba poked at the ball, but BG could not get a shot off, and the ball eventually went out of bounds.

Togba, who came off the bench with just over 29 minutes gone, was active during her first-half stretch on the pitch. With six-plus minutes left before halftime, she got around a would-be defender to win the ball and fire a shot, but her effort went wide of the near post. Less than a minute later, VonderBrink made a nifty cutback move to lose her ISU shadow, and the BG senior played a ball into the box, but no teammate was in the vicinity of the diagonal ball.

The final minute of the half was marked by end-to-end action. First, Falcon freshman Emma Norris dispossessed an ISU attacker in the penalty area with roughly 30 seconds left. BG's counterattack saw freshman Jessica Jarvis play the ball ahead to Togba, who came left-to-right across the penalty area and fired a shot that curved just high.

Early in the second half, the visitors drew first blood. After a BGSU goal kick, ISU won the ball near midfield, and a quick pass forward gave the Redbirds a two-on-none opportunity Tejada headed in all alone, and Underwood was forced to commit. When she did, Tejada slid the ball to her right, where a wide-open Cross deposited it into the vacated net. The goal came at the 50:08 mark.

As the match passed the hour mark, fifth-year senior Leah Johnson did yeoman's work to win the ball in the Redbirds' end of the field and elude several defenders. But, her cross was headed out of the box by a diving ISU backliner.

With 25 minutes left, the Redbirds mounted a threat that was similar to the Redbirds' first goal. After another BGSU goal kick, an ISU player won the ball and quickly played it forward. Tejada ran onto the ball, a step ahead of the BG defenders, but her shot was saved by the diving Underwood.

Less than a minute later, Wideman fired a left-side cross into the penalty area. Freshman Demy Whitaker, facing away from goal, got a boot on the pass, but could not control it as she was pulled backward by an ISU defender. The ball continued through the penalty area.

Midway through the period, Tejada again displayed her talent and athleticism. A long free kick by Kristin Cooley headed into the penalty area, toward Tejada. The sophomore, facing away from the goal, redirected the ball on net with a mere flick of her foot, but Underwood was there to make the stop.

A moment later, however, Tejada received the ball from Aimee Wronski and fired a shot toward the far post. The ball was just out of the reach of the diving Underwood, and went just inside of the post to give the visitors a two-goal lead at the 68:22 mark.

The Falcons kept attacking, and as the clocked ticked under the seven-minute mark, Whitaker fired a hard turnaround shot from the top of the box, forcing Kremenovic to make a nice diving save. The rebound went to Togba near the left post, but her shot rolled across the goalmouth and out of danger.

Another dangerous chance by Togba was blocked out of bounds for a corner kick. Wideman took the kick, and the ball caromed off of a defender and right to Huth at the top of the box. The BG sophomore made no mistake, blasting a shot into the net with 1:52 left.

BG maintained possession for much of the remaining time, but the Falcons could not get another shot on goal, and the Redbirds escaped with the victory.

Togba led the Falcons with five total shot attempts on the night. Wideman and Whitaker each fired three shots, with both players putting two on goal.

The Falcons close the non-conference portion of the schedule on Sunday (Sept. 16), taking on Loyola University Chicago at Cochrane Field. That match begins at 1:00 p.m.