By: The Lady Blues were down two goals inside 20 minutes, but made it interesting in the late stages of the match.
Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – A slow start to the match doomed the Illinois College women's soccer team on Saturday morning against Cornell College. The Rams put two goals on the board in the first 17 minutes and held on from there to earn a 2-1 victory. The Lady Blues drop to 3-5-1 (0-1-1 Midwest Conference) with the loss.
Kaylen Sims looked dangerous early on for Illinois College and forced a save from Cornell's Tal Nelly inside of two minutes. The Lady Blues earned a corner kick moments later, but the first goal ended up being put on the board by the Rams just before the match was five minutes old. Katherine Taylor took a pass from Alex Place and got it by goalkeeper
Samantha Vacek for a 1-0 lead.
Just seconds after the goal, it was again Sims who fired a warning shot in on Nelly, but the Rams keeper made another save to keep the Lady Blues from equalizing. Cornell then doubled the lead in the 17th minute as Elisabeth Sage scored off another Alex Place assist for a 2-0 advantage.
Outshot 9-5 in the first 45 minutes, Illinois College dominated play most of the second half. The Lady Blues had a 10-1 advantage in shots after halftime and it was only a matter of time before one of them found the back of the net. It finally came from Sims in the 73rd minute, her first of the season, but it was too little, too late for IC. From that point on, the Lady Blues attempted just one shot and it went wide of the mark.
Vacek made five saves in her collegiate debut in goal for Illinois College. Sims and
Ashley Sholmire each had four shots apiece for IC, while
Maggie Sabo,
Bianca Savarese and
Elizabeth Wagnon each attempted two shots.
The Lady Blues return home to England Stadium on Sept. 29 for their final non-conference match of the season. Illinois College will host Greenville College at 7 p.m. that night.
