SYCAMORES UPSET DRAKE

The Indiana State women's soccer team (4-14-0), that went into the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women's Soccer Championship as the No. 6 seed, was considered the underdog of the tournament.

However, in the opening match of the tournament, the Drake Bulldogs (8-10-1) found out the hard way that ISU meant business, as the Sycamores shocked the Bulldogs in a 1-0 overtime thriller.

The goal came 45 seconds into the second overtime when freshman midfielder Alison Gasparovich put a header past Drake's junior keeper Jenny Schroeder.

"Every player that was here had a part of what happened tonight," head coach Vernon Croft said. "It was very rewarding, and I am very proud of all these players."

In a season that has been dominated by frustrations, the Sycamores went into Wednesday's match with a fresh start. Everything that happened earlier in the season had to be put behind, and it was.

The Sycamores began the game in a new formation they had never played this season. On Monday, the players held an organizational practice that appears to have helped solve some problems that the team had been having.

The game started out evenly, with both teams creating a few opportunities in the first half.

Drake junior defender Karissa Brown had the first shot on goal for the Bulldogs. ISU freshman goalie Emily Lahay made the easy save and the game remained scoreless.

Gasparovich took three shots in the first half, each on goal, but Schroeder made all three saves.

Bulldog junior forward Elizabeth Woerle took four shots in the first half, none of which found the back of the net.

At the 27-minute mark, Mother Nature decided to play a factor in the game, as heavy rain fell, resulting in a one-minute delay. The half concluded with the score knotted up at 0-0. Lahay made four saves in the first half, while Schroeder made five saves.

The rain moved back into the area, and it decided to bring lightning along, resulting in a 72-minute delay.

Each team started the half with an opportunity on goal. ISU senior Amanda Gogel had a shot that went just high. Bulldog senior defender Katie Sauer answered right back with a header that went just high.

The remainder of the half was played relatively evenly. Drake did manage to shoot nine shots, three of which Lahay saved. The Sycamores only shot three times, none of which were on target.

"They had their chances, but for the most part we had them on their heels," explained Lahay. "They were very frustrated. They came in expecting to win."

After a completely scoreless 90 minutes, the Sycamores and Bulldogs went into the first overtime period looking for the game-winning goal.

In soccer, when the game goes into overtime, the first team to score wins.

For a few minutes, it looked like the Sycamore season was going to come to an end. The Bulldogs had two clear opportunities to score and put the game in the bag, but the offense failed to do so.

And, thus, the first overtime ended the same way it began - scoreless.

However, the Sycamores scored right off the bat in the second overtime period when freshman defender Missy Journot sent a free kick into the box. Gogel got her head to the ball and sent it to Gasparovich, who put her header past Schroeder to give the Sycamores the victory.

"It was the greatest feeling in the world," Journot said. "I seriously cannot explain how exciting it was to win and to be going into the semifinals!"

"It felt great to get the goal," said Gasparovich. "We played really hard, and the whole time we just wanted to prove to everyone that we could do it."

Lahay finished the game with seven saves as she worked a shutout against the Bulldogs. Gasparovich had four shots on goal, one of them being the lone goal of the game.

"Our defense had their best game ever," Lahay said. "Everything was clicking. The shutout goes to the whole team, not just to me."

This is the first time the Sycamores, in their short nine-year history, have beaten the Drake Bulldogs. This is only the second time that the Sycamores have moved out of the quarterfinals and into the semifinals. The other time was in the 2004-2005 season.

"Playing Illinois State on Friday is going to be completely different game compared to how we played against them in the regular season," said Lahay. "Hopefully we can carry the momentum from tonight into Friday's game and pull off an upset."

"The girls feel that they are going to turn this game around," Croft said. "So certainly the potential is there for us to give Illinois State a completely different game."

Following the Sycamore win, the No. 4 seeded Missouri State Bears defeated the host school, and No. 5 seed Creighton Bluejays.

The Sycamores will face the No. 2 seed Illinois State Redbirds on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The top-seeded Evansville Purple Aces will face off against Missouri State in the first game at 6 p.m.

( Chris Hauger is a sophomore pre-med major. He can be reached at sasspted@isugw.indstate.edu.)