IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The No. 23 nationally-ranked Illinois soccer team rallied from a two-goal deficit to force overtime and earn a tie with Big Ten foe Iowa, a team that entered the contest with eight wins in as many games on the season. Senior defender Jenna Carosio and junior forward Shayla Mutz provided the goals for the Illini in succession, scoring just over a minute apart during the second half.

“We put ourselves in the position to have to play 110 minutes,” Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield said. “It is great that we fought and statistically won the second half and overtime, but we didn’t win the game because we put ourselves in a hole early. I like that we fought back and got a point on the road, but I think this team is better than that and they believe they are as well.”

The Orange and Blue fell behind in the opening 13 minutes and faced a two-goal deficit after the first half, with Iowa’s Leah DeMoss scoring at the 9:02 mark to record the first goal of the contest. Nearly four minutes later the Hawkeyes (8-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 Big Ten) doubled their lead, with Cloe Lacasse adding a goal on a rebound shot after Alex Melin hit the crossbar with an attempt.

“The biggest thing was Iowa solved the conditions of play better than we did,” Rayfield said. “Part of that is it being their home field and knowing how it plays. It’s small, they lined it smaller than in the past and it was wet and slick, so the ball skipped. We didn’t solve that for the first 50 minutes in terms of winning the ball and getting it down in play. We fell behind on scrappy Iowa goals as they were battling for balls in less than ideal conditions and we didn’t adapt well from the start.”

After completing the remainder of the first half without another goal, scoreless play stretched nearly 25 minutes into the second half before the Illinois offense found rhythm and notched two quick strikes as a result. In the 68th minute, Carosio earned her first tally of the season to bring the Illini within one. Sophomore Vanessa DiBernardo fired a cross to classmate Megan Pawloski and Pawloski redirected the pass to Carosio. The Novi, Mich., native then used a chip shot to place the ball over Iowa goalkeeper Emily Moran for the mark.

“There was a definite change in energy when we got the first goal,” Rayfield said. “One of things we have to figure out is that we can’t wait to score a goal to really give us that energy, confidence and attitude. Our attitude changed following the goal and we need to come on with that attitude we found when we scored and keep that right from the beginning. We need to find it when the score is 0-0.”

At the 68:14 mark, only 71 seconds after Illinois cut the deficit in half, the Illini earned the equalizer to tie the contest at 2-2. Mutz used her head to place a shot past Moran, with DiBernardo earning an assist on the play. With the second Orange and Blue goal of the contest, Mutz totaled her second goal of the season while the tally marked the first this season Iowa has allowed two goals in a single contest.

“The first goal came off a set play near the corner and credit goes to the team for executing it to perfection, everyone played their role to get that first goal,” Rayfield said. “Then to respond right way on a great ball from Vanessa [DiBernardo], which Shayla [Mutz] scored a goal on with her head, really showing her commitment to making a run in box. We continued to press after that point and had other chances and opportunities to earn the victory, but we weren’t able to convert.”

In both overtime periods combined, Illinois totaled five shots, including three on-target attempts. Moran had to stop strikes by Niki Read, Jackie Guerra and Nicole Denenberg to prevent the Illini from scoring their third goal. For the contest, Illinois outshot Iowa, 19-15, while Iowa earned more corner kicks, 6-5. The Hawkeyes were also flagged for more fouls, 15-13. Moran made 10 stops in net for Iowa while Steph Panozzo earned three saves for Illinois.

The Illini (6-2-1, 0-0-1) wrap up their program-record five game regular season road streak with a contest each at No. 25 Ohio State (5-3-1, 0-0-1) and No. 21 Penn State (6-3-0, 0-1-0). Illinois faces the Buckeyes on Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. CT before traveling to the Nittany Lions for a game on Sept. 25 at noon.

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