NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Evansville women’s soccer team grabbed an MVC point on Sunday afternoon, playing Illinois State to a 0-0 draw in Normal. Allie Lammers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) continued her stellar season with four saves to post her fourth shutout, lowering her goals allowed average for the season to 0.57.
Evansville’s Chrysta Vasquez (Las Vegas, Nev./Coronado) had the first shot on goal of the afternoon in the 12th minute, but her shot was saved by Illinois State keeper Madi Valenti. Taylor Wehrer (Las Vegas. Nev./Desert Oasis) added another shot on goal in the 22nd minute, but the shot was again stopped by Valenti.
Lammers was tested in the 37th and 38th minutes, but the sophomore was able to thwart a pair of Redbirds chances with two saves, and the match went into halftime tied at 0-0.
In the 60th minute, Reese Simmons (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) nearly found the afternoon’s first goal off a great pass from Vasquez, but her shot was blocked in the box to stymie the scoring chance.
From there, Lammers and the Evansville defense held strong to keep the Redbirds off the scoreboard and earn a crucial point. The play of the match came in the 83rd minute, with Illinois State threatening to break the tie on a shot at the top of the box. With the match hanging in the balance, Lammers leaped to get a hand on the shot, punching it over the crossbar for the save to secure the shutout.
With the draw, Evansville moves to 5-4-2 overall and 1-2-1 in MVC play for four conference points. UE returns home on Saturday to play host to Belmont in another important MVC match. Kick-off is set for 5 PM from Arad McCutchan Stadium.
