An intense 110 minutes at Demirjian Park ended in a one-all tie between Illinois and Wisconsin. In the dying seconds of the first overtime, Hope Breslin sealed the match with a golden goal, but it didn’t count.
“I was frustrated for my team because I felt they deserved to win this game, that they had earned that,”said head coach Janet Rayfield.
The Illini were coming off a fresh 2-1 win against Maryland and used that momentum to drive their performance Friday night.
However the first half didn’t really play into their favor. Attack from the Badger’s caught Illinois in their defensive a lot, protecting the goal.
But the Illini’s first chance at the net ended up in the goal. Breslin’s shot was blocked and fell into the path of Kendra Pasquale. She hit it one time on her dominant leg and blasted it over Jordyn Bloomer to open the scoring.
Wisconsin answered for an equalizer 17 minutes later in the 22nd minute. Natalie Viggiano floated in a cross on the left flank to a wide open Cameron Murtha to head it past Julia Cili.
Second half came around and the Illini were a completely different team.
“It was obvious and everyone can feel and that did give us a lot more momentum the second half and we were able to keep that and I think that’s what kept us in this game, kept us dominating, kept that belief in us,” Breslin said about the performance of the second half.
Shot after shot, attack after attack Illinois put the pressure on Wisconsin to get them ahead.
Breslin opened up the shooting with an attempt that was just wide of the goal. Maeve Jones had her chance at goal, but again sailed over the goal. Two link up plays with Jones and Breslin also couldn’t find the net.
Illinois were inching closer and closer to gain back the lead but were plagued with the lack of finishing, especially Breslin.
“I feel like I can’t catch a break lately, but just a little unlucky there,” Breslin said. “I guess next time I gotta be a little bit more assertive of my shot and make sure it goes in before the time runs out.”
The fifth year’s nine shots on goal only ended with two shots on goal. Even against Maryland she failed to produce the finishing needed to secure the eventual win.
However, Rayfield says Breslin did her job when it came to taking shots.
“She’s gotta keep doing what she’s doing,” Rayfield said. “She made good decisions to bend the ball to drive the ball. Goal scorers, if you can score one out of 10 shots you’re actually pretty good and I’d say she was on that tonight just the clock took that one away from her.”
Wisconsin could just not catch a break in the second half as the attack were coming in from all angles and behind to get past Bloomer.
The Badger’s got lucky and escaped regular time scoreless after a powerful Illini attack.
In overtime, both teams fought it out in a near dramatic finish.
As the public announcer counted down from 10, Angie Galo intercepted the ball in Illinois’ defensive half. She made the final push to sprint up and found Breslin running in.
She fed the ball through a perfect opening and Breslin was on the end of it. The fifth year hit a one timer trying to loft it over Bloomer and she made the initial save, but the ball eventually trickled into the net.
With Illinois thinking they’ve won, the main referee called for an extensive review of the goal. The buzzer sounded right as the ball took its last bounce into the net and after ruther review, Breslin’s goal was ruled out.
Rayfield threw her notebook in frustration of the call, but told her team to get rid of the anger and focus on the next 10 minutes.
After the second overtime, the match stayed tied after four halves.
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Illinois soccer dominate Wisconsin, nearly seal match with golden goal - Daily Illini
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