Sept. 7, 2003
Box Score
Auburn, Ala. - The Fighting Illini women's soccer team traveled to Auburn, Alabama on Sunday and took the No. 11 Auburn Tigers to overtime before falling 2-1. The Illini drop to 2-2 with the loss, while Auburn, ranked 11th in the latest Soccer Buzz national poll, improves to 3-0.
Auburn got the on the board early when Sarah Steinman, the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, scored on a breakaway goal in the 10th minute. Junior Chrissy Culver assisted on the score.
"We came out and played uninspired soccer in the first half," said Illinois Head Coach Janet Rayfield. "We didn't have the defensive intensity early on that we've had in the first three games. We gave up an early goal, which is something you can't afford to do on the road."
Illinois' intensity picked up in the second half. The Illini tied the score in the 67th minute when freshman Jessica Bayne scored header goal off of a Christen Karniski restart from just outside of the box. It was Bayne's second goal of the season, and was Karniski's second assist.
From that point on, both goalkeepers took over to keep the game deadlocked at 1-1 for the rest of regulation. Both teams had plenty of chances to score in the final 20 minutes, but Illinois GK Leisha Alcia (six saves) and Auburn GK Megan Rivera (seven saves) were both outstanding down the stretch.
Nearly seven minutes into the first overtime period, however, Steinmann would strike again. Tiger defender Erin Hinson lofted a restart into the box where Lindsay Giblin flicked a header over to Steinmann, who beat Alcia just inside the left post.
"We came out with a lot more intensity and created a lot of chances in the second half," said Rayfield. "We had them on their heels at times, but just didn't make that final run or pass to finish the job. This game is one of those that could have gone either way, unfortunately, this time it didn't go our way."
Up Next: The Illini return home next weekend to host the Illinois Invitational at Illini Soccer Stadium. On Friday, Sept. 12 the Orange and Blue will face Evansville at 7:30 p.m., then on Sunday, Sept. 14, they will play host to inter-state rival Illinois State at 3 p.m.
