 Northover netted two goals for the second consecutive game and the
second time in her career. She also scored the Redbirds' first two
goals in the 3-0 win over Northern Iowa on Friday night. Her four
goals in the last two games are the most scored by a Redbird in a
two-game span this season. She now leads the team with 16 points on
five goals and a team-best six assists. She moved into a tie for
ninth place on the ISU career goals list(10) and 10th in career
points (29).
Illinois State outshot Creighton 22-9 in the game and held a 10-3
advantage in corner kicks. The 22 shots are the most the Redbirds
have had in one game all season. Northover led the offensive
onslaught with six shots and senior Shannon Duggan had five. Each
player had four shots on goal.
Sophomore Katie Grill-Donovan made five saves in goal to pick up
her sixth win of the season. She has allowed just three goals in the
past four games.
The Redbirds controlled the pace of play nearly the entire game.
Although the first half was scoreless, the Redbirds held a 10-2
advantage in shots and had several close scoring chances. ISU
peppered Creighton goalkeeper Kristin Casey with shots, and she was
forced to make four saves. Senior Shannon Duggan had one shot from
the left side that was headed for the upper right corner of the
goal, but Casey made a diving save to knock it out of bounds.
Despite possessing the ball in the Creighton zone for most of the
first half and Creighton not getting its first shot until the 21st
minute, the game went to halftime knotted at zero.
The second half went the same as the first, with the Redbirds
continuing to knock on the door. Within the first minute, Duggan had
another shot that Casey saved, and sophomore Danielle Mutters had a
header of a corner kick one minute later that Casey got a hand on
and deflected off the post. The Redbirds had seven more shots, four
of which were on goal, before they finally got on the board.
In the 72nd minute, sophomore Amy Heredia brought the ball up the
left side and played it into the box. Northover battled with a
Creighton defender for the ball, gained control, spun around into
open field and launched a shot over Casey's head into the top of the
goal.
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ISU continued to put the pressure on and didn't let the momentum
slip away. Less than four minutes later, freshman Bethany Brown had
a header from the middle of the penalty box, and Casey once again
got a hand on. The ball hit the crossbar, bounced back into play on
the left side, and before Creighton could clear it, Northover came
streaking in and took a shot that deflected off Casey's hands, off
the crossbar and into the upper left corner of the goal. Brown was
credited with her first career assist on the play.
With less than 10 minutes left to play, Creighton got more
offensive-minded and started to put together some scoring chances.
In the 86th minute, Eden Hingwing played a ball over the top of the
Redbird defense, and Marcy Gans beat everyone down the field for a
breakaway goal to cut the Creighton deficit in half, 2-1. The
Bluejays continued to make runs at the ISU goal, but could manage
only one shot in the final minutes. It was blocked and the Redbirds
held on for the win.
With the Redbirds being the only undefeated team left in the
Valley and two of their final three conference games at home, head
coach Drew Roff knows how important the win over Creighton is.
"We have had some nice wins over the course of the year, but
games like this sometimes are turning points," Roff said. "This team
needed a tight victory over a quality opponent. It is a big step
forward to get this win because we can preach all I want about
competing, but at the end of the day we have to be able to win games
like this one. Yvonne is a special player and has stepped up big in
all three of our conference games so far this year. She has worked
hard and she is doing it when it counts."
Illinois State has a week off before hosting Evansville on Sunday
at noon.
[Text from file received from Jimmy
Knodel,
assistant media relations director,
Illinois
State University]
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