University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
Panthers Pluck Redbirds 1-0 For First Win of Season
10/13/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 13, 2006
PANTHERS PLUCK REDBIRDS 1-0 FOR FIRST WIN OF SEASON
Normal, IL--A ten-yard scoring strike by Jackie Gielau and a 90-minute shutout from goalkeeper Heidi O'Mara helped the University of Northern Iowa women's soccer team top Illinois State 1-0. The win snapped the Panthers' 28-game winless streak and is UNI's first Missouri Valley Conference win since 2004.
Gielau (Denver, Iowa/Denver) dribbled through the Redbird defenders after a Molly Off (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) pass freed her from ISU's midfielders. The junior collided with Redbird goal keeper Erica Goethel but stayed afoot and sent the ball to the net for her third goal of the season and her first game winner of the year. The Panthers played 75 minutes of shutout soccer following Gielau's 15th minute score to take the game 1-0.
"Jackie's effort was phenomenal," head coach Kathy Kakoyianni-Bering said. "She was all over the field for us today and she never gave up on any ball. Her speed after the first touch was amazing."
An outstanding in-goal effort from junior goalkeeper O'Mara (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) was a major catalyst for the shutout. O'Mara played the full 90 minutes in-goal, finishing with eight saves and the coveted goose egg in the Redbird score column. The win is the first shutout victory for the Panthers since they beat Indiana State by the same margin in October of 2004.
"Heidi was awesome today," Kakoyianni-Bering said. "She had good movement and did everything we ask our goalkeepers to do. She owned the box."
Kira Anderson (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) and Aimee Rasmussen (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) starred for the Panthers in the back as well. Both were instrumental in keeping the Redbird offense out of the goal in the final half of the contest. Amy Seubert (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) won balls and possessed well as a defender and played a large part in the win as well.
"This was a team effort in every way," Kakoyianni-Bering said. "Our posession game worked for us, we won 50/50 balls all day and we closed the gaps between our midfielders. Everything came together for us today."
The Panthers won despite being outshot by a whopping 24-5 margin, including an 8-4 shot-on-goal disadvantage. It was the first time UNI had been outshot and won since topping Drury 3-2 back in 2004. Gielau accounted for four Panther shots with Jenna O'Hara (London, Ontario/A.B.Lucas) tallying the fifth.
Gielau's goal was her third of the season and put her in a tie for the team lead with Lindsey Daugherty (Loveland, Colo./Thompson Valley). Off's assist was the seventh of the season by the Panthers, all by different players.
UNI moves to 1-3-0 in the MVC, 1-13-0 on the season. Illinois State falls to 0-3-1 in conference, 3-7-3 overall.
The Panthers travel to Evansville to take on the Purple Aces, Sunday. Game time is at 1 p.m.
