MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin women's soccer team suffered its first home loss of the season and fell to Illinois State, 1-0, at the McClimon Soccer Complex on Sunday.
The Badgers (3-3-0), who were coming off a 4-1 win over Loyola Chicago on Friday evening, created plenty of offensive chances, but were unable to capitalize and score Sunday. Wisconsin outshot Illinois State by a 17-10 margin and UW even held an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks, but the Redbirds (2-3-1) hung on for the win thanks to a first-half goal from Lauren Koehl.
"I still don't think we've put together a complete performance," UW head coach Paula Wilkins said. "Even in the Loyola game, I thought there were lapses-we gave up a goal. The one thing we have to go back and do is we have to sure up our defense. That's going to be the big thing for us next week in training, is that we've got to defend better as a group and we're going to have to look at our shape and how we have to do that differently."
The lone goal of Sunday's game came on a long run and excellent finish from Koehl. Streaking down the field and taking a chance from distance, Koehl scored in the 22nd minute on a strike that cleared UW goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem's reach. Clem would finish with five saves in the game, but allowed the crucial goal.
Searching for an answer of their own, the Badgers substituted fifth-year senior Nikki Greenhalgh into the game midway through the first half. Greenhalgh was part of a couple of nice scoring chances, but was unable to find the back of the net.
A competitive match throughout, the Redbirds were able to shut out the Badgers the rest of the way and help preserve Koehl's goal as the game-winner. UW made one final push over the last 10 minutes of play that included a handful of shots and a late corner kick taken by Marisa Kresge, but it was not to be for the Badgers on Sunday.
Rose Lavelle led all players with a season-high six shots, including three shots on goal. Kinley McNicoll had three shots and two shots on goal.
Wisconsin prepares next for a short road trip to face in-state foe UW-Milwaukee on Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. CT.
