Printable Box Score |COLLEGE PARK, Md. - On Sunday at Ludwig Field, Illinois and Maryland played to a 1-1 tie in their first-ever meeting. Sophomore goalkeeper Claire Wheatley made a season-high nine saves and stopped two penalty kicks, including a clutch save with 31 seconds remaining in double overtime. Senior Jannelle Flaws initially put the Illini ahead in the first half with her Big Ten-leading 17th goal.
"Today was another gutsy performance by our team and some great goalkeeping," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "We were much better in the first half, but I think we were just a step slow in the second half. Maryland was able to get some good looks, but we just kept fighting. Claire was big today, but the heart of this team was even bigger. It's a point on the road and now we need to focus on one home game at a time and finish the season strong."
In the 20th minute, Illinois was awarded an indirect free kick from eight yards out after illegal touching was called on the Maryland goalkeeper. Junior Nicole Breece earned her career-high sixth assist by setting up Flaws who scored for the eighth time in the last nine games.
Flaws tied Vanessa DiBernardo for third on the school's all-time scoring list with 43 career goals. She only trails Emily Brown (46 goals) and Illinois' all-time scoring leader Tara Hurless (47 goals) in the record books. The Glenview, Illinois, native has scored 40 goals in the last 39 games, marking the most in the NCAA since the start of 2013.
Wheatley stymied Maryland's penalty kick in the 37th minute, making her second PK save of the season. The Orange and Blue carried the 1-0 advantage into halftime, with shots even 7-7.
The Terrapins applied pressure in the second half and evened it up in the 71st minute. Alex Anthony scored on a give-and-go from Maisie McCune to make it 1-1. Maryland outshot Illinois 16-4 in the second half, but the Illini defense stayed strong and sent a match to overtime for the third time this season.
Both teams attempted a shot in the first overtime, but neither put it on target. The second overtime saw a flurry of action with four shots by each team. Illinois was called for a foul in the box with 31 seconds left, but Wheatley delivered her third PK save of the year to preserve the tie.
Maryland posted the most shots (28) against Illinois this season and put 10 on frame, but only one got by Wheatley. Ten different Illini contributed to their 16 shots, led by Flaws with four.
Illinois (9-6-1) remained in eighth place in the Big Ten standings with 13 points at 4-5-1, while Maryland (5-4-6) sits at seventh place in the conference with 14 points at 3-2-5.
Up Next: The Illini will return home for their final three games of the regular season. Illinois will play Michigan State (Oct. 24), No. 24 Michigan (Oct. 26) and No. 15 Wisconsin (Oct. 31) at the Illinois Soccer Stadium.
