Sept. 12, 1999
Champaign, Illinois - Head Coach Tricia Taliaferro figured she would know more about her Illini soccer team after this weekend. What she discovered was a resilient, aggressive, never say-die club that still has some room to grow. Sunday the Illini experienced exhilaration followed closely by heartbreak in a thrilling 3-2 overtime setback to 20th-ranked Missouri.
The loss was Illinois? first of the season after five straight wins, including a 3-0 triumph of Boston University on Friday.
When freshman Laura Freeman slipped a shot through the Missouri zone, the player of the hour, Emily Brown headed one past hard-nosed Missouri goalkeeper Jackie Adamec with just 1:02 left in regulation. That capped off a half dominated by the Illini, who needed to overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit.
?Lisa (Baldwin) is dangerous, and teams know they have to key on her,? said Brown, who had a career-high nine shots. ?That has given me a lot of chances so far this year.?
Illinois? hopes of the upset were dashed just 1:56 into overtime, however, as Missouri senior Erin Grimsley broke free and beat Illini goalkeeper Amy Bessette for the game-winner.
While Illinois has usually been the team to break through early, scoring within the first 15 minutes in four of its five previous matches, a veteran Missouri team turned the tables . Grimsley fed sophomore Sarah Sallee, who slipped through the Illini defense for a breakaway goal before most of the 431 spectators were in their seats -- at the 1:17 mark of the first half.
The explosive Tiger offense mounted another rally before the half was out. This time Big 12 Player of the Week Nikki Thole fed Grimsley for a one-timer from 10-feet out. Missouri seemed in control, ahead 2-0.
Illinois began to pick up momentum late in the first half. The sophomore Baldwin forced a Missouri foul that enabled the Illini an indirect kick just outside the goalkeeper box. Brown?s shot was just wide.
The Illini created five scoring chances in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Brown hopped over a defender and between two others and hit a shot just wide right. On another chance, Freeman beat the Adamec, only to have Missouri?s Thole kick out a shot from point blank range.
Illinois finally broke through when sophomore Lindsay Johnson unloaded a shot in front of the Missouri net. Brown snuck in for a header at the 65:26 mark. Illinois kept the pressure on the rest of the half until finally nodding the score in the waning moments.
?We didn?t start out as fast as I would have liked, but I?m excited about the way we responded,? said Taliaferro. ?Although the team is young, they understand what we?re doing and now have had a taste of how good they can be.?
The matches become a little more critical this weekend as the Illini host Minnesota (7 p.m., Friday) and Wisconsin (1 p.m., Sunday) in the start of Big Ten play.
?This was a good test for us before the Big Ten season,? said Taliaferro of Missouri, who had defeated a pair of conference schools, including No. 14 ranked Michigan, 4-1. ?We came out a little scared today, but hopefully we?ve gotten that behind us so we?ll be ready to play in the Big Ten.?
