Final Stats

NORMAL, Ill. - Ashley Bovee tallied her second goal of the season in the closing minutes of the second half as Illinois State dealt the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team a 2-1 defeat tonight at Adelaide Street Field in Normal, Ill. The Redbirds move to 4-6-2 overall (1-1-0 MVC) with the win, while the Ramblers slip to 5-4-3 (0-1-1 MVC).

"We paid for the little mistakes that we made tonight," Loyola head women's soccer coach Barry Bimbi said. "I was very proud of the girls in the second half. It was a great team effort. I felt that we really took the game to them and created some chances but, unfortunately, they got their second goal before we could score our first. It's been a tough road swing for us so I'm proud to see us come out of it at 1-1-1. We'll now turn our focus to Missouri State on Sunday."

Loyola looked to grab control of the game early on a cool, windy night in Central Illinois. Three corner kicks from junior Shelby Koch failed to result in a shot on goal for the Maroon & Gold. Illinois State turned up the pressure as the half rolled on. Keely Thoebald found space at the edge of the box, ripping her attempt just wide of the near post in the 13th minute. Freshman Jenna Szczesny tallied Loyola's first attempt of the night two minutes later but had her try blocked.

A misplayed clearance by the Ramblers resulted in a one-time opportunity for Lauren Koehl that was turned away by sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Ford. Ford, the reigning Valley Goalkeeper of the Week, was called back into action again in the 20th minute, stoning Kelli Zickert's attempt from the top of the arc.

Ali Farkos opened the account for the hosts in the 31st minute of play when the wind aided her attempted cross, carrying it over Ford and in at the far post to make it 1-0 to Illinois State. Koehl had a chance to double the advantage less than four minutes later when she worked her way behind the Rambler defense, only for Ford to turn away her try at the near post. Neither team would put an attempt on target for the remainder of the opening stanza as Loyola headed to halftime with a one-goal deficit.

The Ramblers came out with renewed energy to begin the second half and it showed from the onset. Freshman Taylor Lambouris forced the first save of the night out of Redbird netminder Vanessa Niestrom in the 48th minute before racing back to contest a breakaway opportunity for Koehl in the 54th. It proved to be only a matter of time for Koehl as she curled a shot in at the far post in the 74th minute to double the Redbird advantage, making it 2-0.

Finding itself in a two-goal hole, Loyola continued to attack in search of a breakthrough. Junior Hailey Merrill, Koch and Lambouris all saw their attempts go off target inside a seven-minute span. Ford ensured that the deficit stayed at two in the 83rd minute when she collected a Zickert try at her near post. Less than two minutes later, a perfectly-placed cross from sophomore Katie Grall evaded the Redbird defense and connected with Bovee near the penalty spot. The Greenville, Wis. native calmly headed in at the near post to pull the Ramblers back to within one, 2-1. Another Koch corner in the 87th minute gave Loyola a glimmer of hope in its search for an equalizer but the Redbird defense cleared it from the box as Illinois State held on to claim all three points in the conference standings.

Loyola returns home for the first time in over two weeks to open up a two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when it hosts Missouri State. Kickoff against the Bears is set for 1 p.m. from Loyola Soccer Park.