For just the third time in the 25-year history of MVC women's soccer, two quarterfinal matches were decided via PKs as Valparaiso outlasted Evansville and Illinois State did the same against UNI on Sunday, April 11.
Tournament Matches Decided by PKs
1997 (final) UE 2, EIU 2 (UE 5-4 PKs)
1999 (semis) MSU 1, ILS 1 (MSU 4-3 PKs)
2002 (semis) ILS 1, UE 1 (ILS 5-4 PKs)
2003 (finals) ILS 0, CU 0 (ILS 5-4 PKs)
2004 (quarters) ILS 1, MSU 1 (ILS 5-4 PKs)
2005 (quarters) UE 2, MSU 2 (UE 4-2 PKs)
2007 (final) ILS 1, CU 1 (CU 4-3 PKs)
2008 (quarters) MSU 0, CU 0 (MSU 4-2 PKs)
2010 (semis) MSU 1, ILS 1 (MSU 2-1 PKs)
2011 (quarters) UNI 0, CU 0 (UNI 5-3 PKs)
2012 (quarters) INS 0, UNI 0 (INS 4-3 PKs)
2012 (quarters) CU 0, DU 0 (CU 8-7 PKs)
2013 (quarters) DU 1, Loyola 1 (DU 4-2 PKs)
2013 (quarters) UE 1, MSU 1 (UE 6-5 PKs)
2015 (final) UE 0, Loyola 0 (UE 5-3 PKs)
2016 (quarters) INS 0, DU 0 (INS 3-2 PKs)
2016 (semis) UE 1, Loyola 1 (UE 8-7 PKs)
2018 (quarters) UE 0, UNI 0 (UE 3-2 PKs)
2020-21 (quarters) Valpo 0, UE 0 (Valpo 5-3 PKs)
2020-21 (quarters) ILS 1, UNI 1 (ILS 3-0 PKs)
Valparaiso 0, Evansville 0 (Valpo 5-3 PKs)
After 110 tense minutes of soccer at Brown Field Sunday in first-round MVC Championship action resulted in a scoreless draw, third-seeded Valpo proved it was up to the task in the ensuing penalty-kick tiebreaker, converting all five of its attempts to top sixth-seeded Evansville, 5-3, and advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
How It Happened
- The two sides contested much of the first half in the middle third of the park, combining for just eight shot attempts over the first 45 minutes, only three of which were on goal.
- The best scoring chance for either team in the opening period came late in the half, as a corner kick in the 43rd minute led to Evansville’s Emilie Hall putting a header off the crossbar.
- The goal frame proved unkind to Valpo approaching the halfway mark of the second half. In the 64th minute, sophomore Natalie Graf (Williamsburg, Mich./St. Francis) had the ball on the right flank, about 25 yards from goal, and sent a left-footed shot towards the net which rang back off the crossbar.
- While the woodwork prevented a goal each way during regulation, it was Valpo freshman goalkeeper Nikki Coryell (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) who came up with the biggest save to maintain the 0-0 scoreline. Evansville’s Emily Wolak was played in for a one-on-one chance behind the Valpo defense in the 75th minute, but Coryell came off her line and pushed Wolak’s shot wide of goal with a dive to her right.
- The fixture went to extra time scoreless, and while Valpo out-shot Evansville 4-1 — including three shots on goal — in the extra 20 minutes, the match hit the 110-minute mark still at 0-0, necessitating the penalty-kick tiebreaker to determine which side would advance in the tournament.
Inside the Match
- Valpo advances to the semifinals of the MVC Championship for the first time since joining the conference. Valpo’s last league tournament semifinal appearance came in 2014 en route to claiming the Horizon League Championship.
- Sunday’s result officially goes down as a draw, with the penalties serving as a mechanism to determine which team advances in the tournament.
- The tie was Valpo’s first non-loss in MVC Championship action. The Brown and Gold were previously 0-5-0 in the Valley Tournament, with three of those defeats coming from 1996-98 during their time as an affiliate member of the conference in women’s soccer.
- Valpo is now 2-2 all-time when determining via penalties tournament advancement, but had dropped its previous two penalty tiebreakers. Its only other successful penalty tiebreaker came 4-2 over Oakland in the 1999 Mid-Continent Conference Tournament.
- Coupled with a scoreless draw at Evansville earlier this season, Valpo finished a season with multiple draws against the same side for the first time in program history.
- Valpo has now played to five draws this year, the program’s largest total since finishing the 2011 campaign with five ties. Four of the draws this season have been of the 0-0 variety, the most scoreless draws in a single season in program history.
- Valpo finished the 110 minutes of action Sunday with a 17-10 advantage in shots and put seven on goal to the Purple Aces’ three.
- Coryell secured her sixth shutout of the season, tying Valpo’s record for a freshman goalkeeper (Erin Murray, 2004). She also is already tied for sixth in program history for career clean sheets.
Illinois State 1, UNI 1 (ILS 3-0 PKs)
After finishing regulation in a 1-1 draw and playing through two overtime periods, No. 4 Illinois State got the best of fifth-seeded UNI, converting the first three penalty kicks, 3-0, to advance to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Soccer Championships on Sunday night. ISU will now play top-seeded Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, April 14 at 4 p.m. CT at Loyola Soccer Park in Chicago, Ill.
The Redbirds outshot the Panthers, 23-8, and 13-1 in shots on goal on the night, yet UNI’s one shot on frame was all they needed to take an early, 1-0 lead in the 20th minute off a goal by senior forward Johnnie Hill.
ISU responded in the second half when an
Abby Basler corner kick created the opportunity for an UNI own goal that knotted the score at 1-1.
Neither side could convert the final golden goal, as the match finished in a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper
Priya Gillan was a brick wall between the sticks in the ensuing tiebreaker shootout, stopping two penalty kicks (UNI’s initial kick was not on frame) to seal the deal and help the ‘Birds advance to the semis. Basler, junior
Logan Ziegler and sophomore
Micheala Kirschten all put penalty kicks away for ISU.
Basler, Gillan and senior centerback
Alissa Ramsden were the only Redbirds to go the full 110 minutes on the pitch. Senior
Sarah LaFayette and Basler both took a team-high six shots, with LaFayette putting all six on target.
UNI goalkeeper Caitlin Richards made 13 saves in goal to keep the Panthers in the game.