University of Northern Iowa
Loyola
Panthers Fight Ramblers to 1-1 Tie
9/15/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2004
The UNI women's soccer team battled University of Loyola-Chicago to a 1-1 double-overtime tie tonight at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex. Both goals were scored in the first half.
Stephanie Pauli put Loyola on the board first in the 12th minute off a deflected shot from teammate Katie Heidenreich. ULC's lead didn't last long because in the 28th minute sophomore Aimee Rasmusson of Cedar Falls took the ball at the midfield stripe and dribbled into the box and fired the game-tying goal. Rasmusson had scored four of the six team goals in the Panther's first two exhibition games but this was her first score of the regular season.
"We knew that if we put some pressure on them we would be able to win some balls and that was our game plan right from the beginning," head coach Linda Whitehead said. "Our players played well and they did exactly what we have been practicing."
The rest of the game looked like a tennis match with the teams going back and forth trading shots. Loyola had the 8-4 shot advantage in the first half, but the Panthers countered with a strong second period outshooting the Ramblers 9-6. Loyola ended up taking 28 shots to UNI's 22 on the night.
Freshman Heidi O'Mara (Stillwater, Minn.) turned in a stellar performance for UNI protecting the net. O'Mara recorded a career-best 16 saves, doubling her previous best of eight, which she collected vs. Minnesota and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. There was a scary moment with eight minutes left in regulation when O'Mara made a diving save and collided with a Loyola forward off a direct kick. O'Mara was on the ground for about a minute before getting up. She went on to play the rest of the game.
"Our defense did a great job of shutting them down and Heidi handled everything that came into the box with authority, confidence and carried herself like a professional goal-keeper," Whitehead said. "I think tonight was a big step for her."
Both teams had several chances to take the win in the two overtime periods, but none were better then when junior forward Shanon Dechant (Marion, Iowa) sliced through the Loyola defense and placed the ball past the keeper. The referee whistled Dechant for a foul and took back the goal.
"We had some great opportunities to score at the end but I can't be frustrated that they didn't go in," Whitehead said. "If we are creating that good of chances they will eventually break-through and we'll start putting shots in the goal."
Dechant had a break out game for the Panthers leading the offensive charge with six shots, four on goal. The rest of the 22 shots were distributed fairly evenly among the Panthers with Rasmusson nailing four shots, junior Jillian Carroll (Leawood, Kan.) taking three, and three other players each getting two shots.
UNI improves to 0-5-2 while Loyola moves to 3-1-1 on the season. The Panthers will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Chicago, Ill., to take on DePaul University at 4:00 p.m. UNI returns home for a match vs. Tulsa on September 23rd. The game will start at 6:00 p.m. at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex.
