Sept. 20, 2002
Final Stats
The Illinois women's soccer team stumbled in its Big Ten Conference opener, losing to Michigan State, 2-0. The Illini out shot the Spartans 12-9, but it wasn't enough as MSU moved to 5-1 on the season and Illinois dropped to 3-4.
The Fighting Illini controlled play in the first half and had several scoring opportunities, but despite an 8-2 shot advantage, the two teams went into halftime deadlocked at 0.
Michigan State came out more aggressive in the second half and was able to put a goal on the board at the 61:17 mark when Erin Konheim sent an Emma Harris cross into the back of the net for her first goal of the season.
At the 73:41 mark, Illinois midfielder Tara Schuling received a red card, which meant the Illini would be a player down for the remainder of the game. NCAA rules state that Schuling must sit out the team's next game, which is Sunday against No. 14 Michigan. It was Schuling's second red card of the season, she also received one in the season opening loss to Missouri.
After the game, Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield was not happy with her senior leader. "I'm extremely disappointed." said Rayfield, "For a senior captain to make that kind of mistake twice is unacceptable."
The Spartans were able to take advantage of the extra player and added an insurance goal at the 82:49 mark. Tiffany Laskowski took a pass from Heidi Lutz and broke away from the defense for her fourth goal of the season to set the final score at 2-0.
"We lost the game in the first half," said Rayfield. "We played well and had several opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. By not putting those chances away, we kept them in the game. In the second half, we just couldn't repeat our first half intensity and had trouble adjusting to what Michigan State was doing."
Illinois goalkeeper Leisha Alcia came up with five saves on the evening for the Illini. Michigan State's Stacy Heller tallied four saves on the way to her third shutout of the season.
Up Next: After taking on No. 14 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Sunday, the Illini return to the friendly confines of Illinois Soccer Field to face Dayton on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. and Big Ten rival Northwestern on Sept., 29 at 2 p.m.
