Illinois State Soccer Ends Senior Day With A Draw

Image Courtesy of Illinois State Athletics 

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State soccer narrowly escaped its match against the Indiana State Sycamores with draw, after a late penalty kick goal. The 1-1 final extends Illinois State’s unbeaten streak at home to 15 straight games. 

The Redbirds got off to a slow start,  attempting only three shots in the first half, while the Sycamores finished the half with seven. Fortunately for ISU, goalkeeper Maddi Valenti made four saves, keeping the game scoreless at halftime. 

The Sycamores scored the first goal of the afternoon, after Madison Ziebarth found the net off a corner kick in the 62nd minute. 

The Sycamores controlled the game until a video review called a handball on the Sycamores inside the box.

With a golden opportunity, sophomore Sosi Dadekian took a penalty kick and scored with under seven minutes remaining. It was Dadekian’s second career goal, both coming off of penalty kicks. 

Indiana State took one final shot at the goal with two seconds left, but Valenti made a game saving stop, ending the match in a 1-1 draw. 

Sunday’s game was also Senior Day for the Redbirds, as the team honored 11 of their players, including Valenti, Ava Watson, and Aniya Seymore. 

With the tie, the Redbirds are 9-2-4 on the season and 4-1-1 in conference play. ISU will head to Evansville on Sunday as they enter the final stretch of the season. 

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