Sophomore Dee Guempel moves the ball down the pitch.

Despite controlling the game for the duration, the Saint Louis
University women’s soccer team fell to Illinois State on Tuesday
2-1 in Normal, Ill. This game is the second of four in a row for
the Billikens on the road. On Aug. 28, they previously tied
Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., 1-1, in a double-overtime marathon. The
Billikens will conclude the aforementioned road trip this weekend.
Friday takes them to Lawrence, Kan., to face-off with Mississippi
State and Kansas, in the KUStore.com Crimson & Blue
Invitational at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex, on Friday and Sunday,
respectively.

The Billikens kept the pressure on the Redbirds all afternoon
but could not seem to convert their dominance into points. The
Bills outshot their opponent 19-9, but could not manage a goal
until the 63rd minute. The Bills’ staunch defense did not even
allow Illinois State to attempt a shot until 22 minutes into the
game. The keeper for the Redbirds, Andrea Shaw, put forth a stellar
effort in staving off the Billiken onslaught, on her way to
recording six saves. Billiken Junior goalkeeper Amanda Martin also
put forth a superior effort on her way to recording five saves.

The first goal of the game came on a perfectly executed corner
kick by Illinois State in the 26th minute of play. Michelle
Brumbaugh kicked a perfect corner from the right corner. Reigning
Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Heather Forsyth was
there to put a first-class header on it and knock the ball into the
upper-right corner of the goal. The Billikens continued to outshoot
the Redbirds after the initial goal, however, and had good scoring
chances throughout.

The Billikens came back to net the score at one with a goal by
sophomore Maureen Hughes. Senior Jamie Perry brought the ball up
the left side and proceeded to give an excellent feed to Hughes
coming down the right side. Hughes dribbled toward the end line a
bit, brought the back to the top of the box and put a good foot on
the ball to knock it into the left side of the net.

The deciding goal came on a very tough break for the Billikens,
especially for goalkeeper Amanda Martin. Brumbaugh booted the
corner kick to the left side of the net where Martin was ready with
a fist, ready to knock the ball away. Unfortunately, the rebound
was collected by the Redbirds’ Joyce Kleinhenz, who put the ball in
the goal after a ricochet off a defender in the 73rd minute.

The Billikens did not let up and continued to play fundamental
soccer, putting pressure on Illinois State until the final whistle.
Illinois State coach Pete Kowall was impressed with the Billikens
as a team. “Saint Louis is a very good team. They are very
technical and play the ball well,” Kowall stated in a press
release. The coach was incredibly pleased with the effort put forth
by his squad. Kowall said in the same press release, “In terms of
us, we defended well enough even though they had many chances to
score…This was a great win for us. Saint Louis is a good team,
individually and as a whole.”

The loss for the Billikens dropped their record to 0-1-1 in what
is still the infant stage of this arduous season. Illinois State,
on the other hand, improved to 2-0-0, leaving hope for a productive
rest of the way. The Billiken’s tie came against a tough Oklahoma
team in double overtime. The Redbirds will face off with Oakland
this weekend, on the road. The Bills will look toward the weekend
as an opportunity to get back on track and continue with a
promising season.

Both opponents this weekend are formidable foes for the Bills.
Mississippi State has started their season 2-0, defeating both
Middle Tennessee State, as well as Northwestern State. Kansas, also
undefeated at 2-0, took down both the University of Nevada at Las
Vegas, as well as Brigham Young University. Kansas is currently
ranked 22nd in the country, according to soccertimes.com, and will
be looking to put forth a strong effort this weekend to move up in
the polls.

Kansas goalkeeper Meghan Miller was also named Big 12 Defensive
Player of the Week for her efforts in recording two consecutive
shutouts. This is only the fourth time in school history that the
Jayhawks have started a season 2-0. Mississippi State and the
Billikens are both currently unranked.