Aug. 30, 2002

Final Stats

The University of Illinois women's soccer team opened up its season with a heartbreaking 2-1 double overtime loss to Missouri in the Nike Tiger Invitational on Friday. Despite being a player down for the final 14 minutes of regulation and both overtime periods the Illini hung tough until Missouri's Erica Pusch punched in the winner with only 3:50 remaining in the game.

Both defenses dominated the first half as the two teams battled to a 0-0 draw. The Illini fired just three shots in the first stanza, while the defense held Missouri to five shots.

Missouri came out aggressively in the second half and created several good scoring opportunities, but the Illinois defense held their own and goalkeeper Leisha Alcia made some spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless.

Illinois Head Coach Janet Rayfield was impressed with Alcia's performance. "Leisha was outstanding," said Rayfield. "Hopefully she doesn't have to play this well day in and day out, but it's nice to know that she can. She proved that she is one of the best keepers in college with her performance tonight."

The Illini broke the scoreless tie on a header by Tara Hurless with 18:16 remaining in regulation. Paula Faherty set up the Hurless header with a beautiful cross from the right side.

However, the Tigers countered with a goal by Amber Swinehart just 2:21 later to tie the score at 1-1. Swinehart knocked in the header off of an Adriene Davis corner kick.

Then just moments later at the 76 minute mark Illinois midfielder Tara Schuling was given her second yellow card of the night to give the Tigers a player advantage for the remainder of the game. Despite the disadvantage, the Illini were able to hold off the Tigers for the rest of regulation and the two teams headed to overtime tied 1-1.

In the first overtime period, Illinois weathered a barrage of Missouri scoring chances to keep the game deadlocked at one. However, the Illini couldn't hold the Tigers in the second overtime period as Missouri scored with 3:51 remaining to take the win. Missy Peabody hit the post on a shot and Erica Pusch was there to knock in the rebound for the win.

"We fought hard tonight," said Rayfield after the game. "We just coundn't adjust to a tough situation (playing one man down). We need to work on being more composed when faced with adversity. Also, our organization in the backfield needs improvement. Mizzou played a three-man front and that put our backs under a lot of pressure."

Up Next: The Illini (0-1-0) will face Kentucky (1-0-0) on Sunday, Sept. 1 in the Nike Tiger Invitational. The Wildcats defeated Indiana 3-1 on Friday to open up the tournament.