By: Illinois College improved to 3-0-0 with a 1-0 win on Wednesday on an 88th minute goal from Ally Kjellander.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's soccer team continued its hot start on Wednesday night, surviving an onslaught of shots from Fontbonne University and scoring late in the match to come away with a 1-0 victory. The Lady Blues improve to 3-0-0 so far on the season.
For much of the match, Illinois College soaked up pressure and looked to spring a counter-attack against Griffins. The result was a lopsided number of shots, however Fontbonne did little to trouble IC keeper
Samantha Vacek. The Griffins had an 11-1 shot advantage in the first half, but Vacek made four saves to keep the match 0-0 at the break.
The second half was a repeat of earlier in the contest, but the Lady Blues began to have much more success on the counter. Fontbonne had two good chances to take a lead, but a header attempt was cleared off the line by the IC defense and Vacek later made a good diving save in the 87th minute on a Maddie Tague shot to maintain the scoreless tie.
With the match seeming destined for overtime, the Lady Blues struck suddenly. After a throw-in,
Ashley Sholmire found space in the 18-yard box and slipped a ball across the face of goal where
Ally Kjellander slid in and beat Tayler Pulvirenti. The ball trickled into the corner and IC held on from there.
Vacek ended with seven saves in the match to pick up her second shutout of the season. Kjellander and
Mackenzie Bedgood each had two shots in the match for the Lady Blues, including all three that went on frame.
Illinois College will host its first Midwest Conference match on Sept. 10. The Lady Blues will meet Monmouth College (2-1-0) at England Stadium beginning at 6 p.m.
