Illini soccer blanked by Minnesota
By: Matt Wettersten
Updated: October 12, 2012
ST PAUL, Minn. - Illinois
stumbled in their first road trip pit stop, dropping a 3-0 game to
Minnesota. The Gophers netted a goal in the first half and two in the
second period to claim victory in
tonight's game. Illinois moves to 7-5-2 overall and 4-2-1 in Big Ten
play while the Gophers jump to 8-6-1 and 3-3-1 in conference
competition.
Illinois created
some goal-scoring opportunities in the opening minutes of the contest.
Defender Kassidy Brown was the first to test Minnesota goalkeeper Cat
Parkhill when she placed a shot on goal in the
seventh-minute. In addition, Vanessa DiBernardo recorded her first shot
of the game in the 14th-minute.
Minnesota
standout Taylor Uhl, who leads all women in the Big Ten in goals and
points, got the Gophers on the board with her 14th goal of the season in
the 27th-minute. Uhl was able to dribble through the
Illini defense and create enough space to release a shot that found the
lower left corner of the goal.
DiBernardo's
second shot of the game nearly tied it in the 30th-minute but her strike
hit the crossbar and the Gopher defense was able to clear and remove
the threat.
Illinois started
the second half strong when DiBernardo tallied two shots in the first 90
seconds, forcing Parkhill to record her second save of the match. The
Illini then proceeded to take three corner
kicks in the following three minutes, as Kassidy Brown recorded her
second shot of the game but could not find the equalizer.
However,
Minnesota would capitalize on their opportunities as Uhl was once again
involved on a Gopher goal. Tamara Strahota netted the second strike off
of a sharp angle off the end-line in which the ball
ricocheted off the far post and in.
Taylor Uhl then
earned her fifth point of the match when she extended the Minnesota lead
to three in the 74th-minute. After the sophomore released a shot that
deflected off of Panozzo, she collected the
rebound and put it into the back of the net.
Minnesota
finished the night with 13 shots and eight on goal compared to the
Illini's 8 shots with three on goal. Furthermore, the Gophers enjoyed a
5-3 corner kick advantage. Also, Steph Panozzo ended
the game with five total saves and DiBernardo led the team in shots with
five.
Finally, the Illini suffered their first night game loss on the year, now 5-1-0, and move to 2-3-2 on the road this season.
