Illinois State Soccer Advances in MVC Tournament Following Overtime Goal

Image Courtesy of Illinois State Athletics 

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State soccer is moving on to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals after defeating the Evansville Aces 1-0 in overtime.  

ISU came into this game as the three seed in the tournament with a 9-3-6 record, hosting the sixth seeded Aces who had a 5-7-2 record. 

The Redbirds controlled the game offensively, putting themselves in multiple positions to score. The team outshot Evansville 19-7 and 10-2 shots on goal.  

Aces goalkeeper Brianna Chirpich made nine saves on the day, tied for her season-high, before letting up the final goal in extra time. 

Just over two minutes into extra time, junior midfielder Rylie Monahan drew a foul inside the Aces box. This set up a penalty kick, where Mikayla Carkhuff took the shot and buried it in the bottom left corner of the net to advance her team. 

This was Carkhuff’s third goal of the season and her first in over a month. It was also the first score off a penalty kick in her career.  

Illinois State’s defense successfully contained Evansville’s offense, only allowing two shots on goal, which were both saved by Madi Valenti, allowing the shutout. 

After this game, Valenti is now tied for the most career shutouts in ISU history with 26. She also leads the conference this season with nine, helping her to win her second MVC Goalkeeper of the Year award. 

With this victory, the Redbirds now have ten wins on the season, the team’s first time with double-digit wins since 2019. 

The Redbirds now prepare for the semifinals where they will travel to Carbondale, to face number two seeded Southern Illinois. The two teams competed close to a month ago, where SIU came out on top with a 1-0 final. 

Kickoff for the match is set for 3 p.m. on Thursday at Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex. 

For all things Redbird Soccer, stay tuned to WZND.com