Oct. 14, 2001

Final Stats

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Fighting Illini women's soccer team fell short in a hard-fought contest, losing 3-1 to Penn State in extremely windy conditions at the Illini Soccer and Track Stadium. Illinois moves to 6-6 on the year, 4-3 in the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions took an early lead scoring just 2:10 into the contest on an unassisted goal by Joanna Lohman. Penn State retained the lead until the 29:28 mark when Hollie Schurr hit Tara Hurless for her third goal of the season to knot the score at one all.

PSU stormed back and took a 2-1 lead on Heidi Drummond's first score of the day. The Nittany Lions carried the one point advantage into the halftime break.

Early in the second period, Drummond connected again to give Penn State a 3-1 advantage. the Nittany Lions held onto the lead for the rest of the contest.

"Penn State is a dangerous team in the air. Two of their goals were off deflections," head coach Tricia Taliaferro said. "Our team showed a lot of positives. We stuck to the game plan and created chances while the defense stayed organized. We hope to continue to play well next weekend."

Although Illinois usually dominates the shot count, the PSU offense was fierce today outshooting the Illini 17-10. PSU fired seven shots on goal to the Illini's three. Illinois remained aggressive committing 19 fouls while the Nittany Lions were called for 11 violations.

Coach Taliaferro's squad goes back on the road next weekend to face off against Indiana and Purdue. The Illini visit the Hoosiers for a 7 p.m. contest on Friday before travelling to Purdue for a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.