It looked as if the Sycamore women's soccer team would walk away with a victory against preseason favorite Evansville, but the Purple Aces netted two goals in the final six minutes of the match to defeat Indiana State 2-1.
Senior goalkeeper Rachel Rudzis kept UE from moving the mesh in the fifth minute of the game when she made a spectacular diving save to prevent Evansville's Kayla Lambert from tallying her eighth goal of the season.
The Sycamores got on the scoreboard first at the 30:29 mark when Caitlin Noble fired a rocket of a shot from 25 yards out into the upper right corner of the goal. Noble has now recorded four goals and three assists on the season, totaling a team-leading 11 points.
Noble nearly tacked on a second goal off a breakaway but her shot went directly into the hands of Evansville goalkeeper Theresa Bagby.
The Sycamores took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The second stanza saw a lot of action from the Purple Aces as they took 12 shots to the Sycamores five. Indiana State stayed strong defensively until the final minutes of the game. Mia Tofano scored off of a volley from the top of the 18-yard box in the 83rd minute to tie the match at 1-1. Tofano was then credited with a second goal four minutes later when the Sycamores tried to clear a crossed ball and instead went into the back of the net.
Indiana State dropped its second Missouri Valley Conference game in a row and falls to 5-9-0 overall. They will hit the road for their next three matches, facing Creighton and Northern Iowa next weekend, followed by Drake on October 25. The Sycamores will play host to Missouri State on October 28 at 1:00 p.m in what will be the final home game of the 2007 season. That game will also conclude the collegiate soccer careers of five Sycamore seniors.
