Katie Gaal
GoSycamores.Com
OMAHA, Neb. ? The #6 Indiana State Sycamores (4-14-0) were the underdogs coming into tonight's first-round match against the #3 Drake Bulldogs (8-9-1). In fact, in the nine years of the soccer program, the Sycamores have never beaten Drake. Well tonight that all changed when freshman Alison Gasparovich scored the game-winning goal in the second of two sudden victory overtime periods to help advance her team to the MVC State Farm Semifinal match on Friday.
“After the season we've had, this is just awesome,” said Gasparovich. “To be the one to score the game-winning goal is so exhilarating.”
The ball went back and forth to each side of the field for the first ten minutes of the game with neither team getting a clear opportunity to score. In the 35th minute of the first half, Sycamore midfielder Erin Bianchi crossed the ball from the left flank that hit a Drake defender on the arm inside the 18 yard box but no whistle was blown and therefore no penalty kick was awarded.
The Bulldogs nearly moved the mesh first in the 29th minute off of a free kick but freshman Emily Lahay made a diving save to her right to keep Drake off the scoreboard.
The rain started coming down halfway through the first stanza and was eventually delayed for just one minute before play resumed with 18:00 showing on the clock.
With less than four minutes to go in the half, the Sycamores had a great chance to go up 1-0 when Laura Hall received a corner kick ball from Casey Clark. Hall's shot from point-blank range was saved by goalkeeper Jenny Schroeder who happened to be directly in the path of the ball. Schroeder made five saves in the first half.
Lahay had a solid first half for the Sycamores as she made four saves in the first 45 minutes. Alison Gasparovich took three of the five Sycamores' shots-on-goal in the opening stanza.
At half, the score remained 0-0.
The rain picked up and lightning neared the area as the game went into a 72-minute weather delay at approximately 6:02 p.m. C.S.T, right after the end of the first half.
It was the Sycamores who had the first opportunity to score in the second half off a perfectly slotted ball from Clark from the right wing. Two minutes in, Clark found Amanda Gogel inside the box whose one-touch shot went just high.
Shortly after, the Bulldogs earned themselves a corner kick and a header by Katie Sauer also went just over the crossbar as the score remained 0-0.
Play remained fairly even between the two teams as the buzzer sounded at the end of 90 minutes and the game went into sudden victory overtime.
In the first overtime period, it was the Bulldogs who had the edge on scoring opportunities as they had two clear chances to win the game off of two great slotted balls into the box that the Drake offense couldn't finish.
And then the second overtime period began, but it ended within 45 seconds. Missy Journot, who usually takes a number of free kicks for the Sycamores, set herself up to take a free kick from just near the corner flag; however, this time Journot had a “feeling.”
“I had an amazing feeling when I kicked that ball,” Journot explained. “And then Shorty (Amanda Gogel) headed it and then Gaspo (Alison Gasparovich) and then I just went crazy!”
The Bulldogs outshot the Sycamores 22-10 in the match. Lahay had a great game with six saves to preserve the shutout for the Sycamores.
This is the first time since 2005 that a #6 seed advanced to the semifinals. The last time was when Evansville defeated Missouri State and that was in penalty kicks.
The Sycamores will face second-seeded Illinois State on Friday. If Creighton wins tonight's game, the Sycamores will play at 6:00 pm E.S.T. If Missouri State wins, the game between the Sycamores and Redbirds will be at 8:30 E.S.T.
Fans can follow the action at the 2008 State Farm MVC Women's Soccer Championship online with live stats and pay-per-view video streaming.
The winner of the championship earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Pairings for the NCAA Championship (64 teams) will be announced Monday, Nov. 10, at approximately 7 p.m. on ESPNEWS.
