University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gopher Soccer Falls at Illinois 4-0
10/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
- Box Score
The University of Minnesota soccer team was defeated by the University of Illinois, 4-0, on Friday night in Champaign, Ill. Junior goalkeeper Molly Schneider made 10 saves in the loss. The Golden Gophers dropped their sixth consecutive match to fall to 3-7-0 overall and 0-5-0 in the Big Ten.
Illinois (9-2-0, 3-1-0) kept the pressure on the Golden Gophers for most of the first half, but Schneider kept the match knotted until the waning moments. Off an Illinois corner kick, Schneider made a diving save on a header by Christine Sinak in the 23rd minute. The Illinois assault continued in the 28th minute as Schneider dove to her right to deflect a shot by Paula Flaherty from 20 yards out.
Illinois broke through with less than five minutes to go in the first half. Natasha Karniski fed Jessica Bayne in front of the goal. She spun to her right and fired a shot from 10 yards out that snuck inside the right post to give Illinois a 1-0 lead. Illinois held a 15-1 advantage in shot attempts through the first 45 minutes.
Illinois added to its lead in the second half as Bayne converted for her second goal of the night in the 63rd minute. She fired a shot from 30 yards out that sailed high over the reach of Schneider towards the upper right corner. Tara Hurless extended the lead to 3-0 on a marker from point blank in the 70th minute.
Illinois closed out the scoring as Brittany Ward beat a Minnesota defender to the ball inside the 18-yard box and kicked it past a sprawling Schneider to make it 4-0 at in the 75th minute.
Minnesota returns to action on Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., against Northwestern (6-4-1, 2-2-0). The Wildcats are coming off a 6-0 rout of Iowa. The match will begin at 1 p.m.
