LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Illinois soccer squad fought back from down one goal to come away victorious at Louisville, 2-1, in overtime on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore forward Megan Pawloski and junior forward Shayla Mutz each tallied a goal on the contest, with Mutz’s coming four minutes into overtime to secure the win.

“Today was going to be educational for us,” Illinois head coach Janet Rayfield said. “Louisville played a 4-5-1 formation with a lot of players behind the ball and counter out of it. We faced a formation we had never faced before, and it took until about halftime to solve it. From a learning perspective, today will be good and from a mental perspective, fighting all the way back to the end will boost our confidence and belief in ourselves.”

Louisville earned the first mark of the contest in the 24th minute, with Jordan Pawlik chipping a 12-yard shot into the net on a breakaway. Despite a few chances for the Illini throughout, the Orange and Blue would trail for the majority of the contest before finding the equalizer near the end of the second half.

To even the score at 1-1, Pawloski totaled her first goal of the season at the 78:17 mark. Pawloski placed a shot into the upper-right corner of the net from 10 yards away on the left side of the goalie box with her second on-target attempt of the game. The Illini continued to fight over the final 12 minutes of regulation, with seniors Marissa Mykines and Julie Ewing and sophomore Kassidy Brown and all placing shots on-frame; however, Louisville’s goalie, Chloe Kiefer, was able to turn aside each attempt to limit Illinois to one tally.

“Megan’s goal was one of those where we showed a lot of fight in the box, kept the ball alive and were able to bury it,” Rayfield said.

In overtime, Mutz totaled her first goal of the season to end the contest at the 94:21 mark. Mutz dribbled into the 18-yard box from the left side and shot into the upper-right corner to record the difference-maker. Mutz also tallied Illinois’ previously most recent overtime goal, finishing the contest against Iowa on Oct. 16, 2010 with a strike in the 94th minute of the 2-1 win as well.

“It felt really good [to earn the game-winning goal and victory],” Mutz said. “We are such an attacking team, fighting the whole game, it was awesome to be able to fight back and come through with the win. Today took a lot of heart and I’m really proud of the team.”

“Late in the game, especially after we earned the goal to tie, we sensed fatigue in them and went at them,” Rayfield said. “Shayla got the ball and sensed the defender was isolated, cut back into the box and was standing eye-to-eye with the keeper and buried it. Her confidence going one-vs.-one through her running at them is going to create something great and help get to the goal.”

Junior Steph Panozzo turned aside four shots to hold Louisville (1-1-1) to one goal and earn her sixth collegiate victory. Panozzo stopped two shots in the first half, one in the second and one in overtime to set a new career high in saves. During extra time, Panozzo grabbed Erin Yenney’s attempt at the 94:07 mark to keep the game knotted at 1-1 and allow Illinois to fight for the game-winner.

On the contest, Illinois outshot Louisville, 14-12, while corner kick attempts were tied at 2-2. The Cardinals were called for six fouls to the Illini’s five, and Keifer made eight saves in net for Louisville.

“Today was a battle and Jenna [Carosio] did a great job of adjusting to figure out Louisville’s attacking style. Caitlin [Dombart] also came in and was able to solve things in the second half. That is a real tribute to Caitlin’s ability to learn and could be huge for us as we go on into the season and get tested by teams that will try to do different things.”

The Illini (4-0-0) return to action on Friday, Aug. 26 at Illinois Soccer Stadium with a 7 p.m. CT contest against USC to open Illini/Boilermaker Cup Challenge Presented by Gameday Spirit play. The Orange and Blue will then face Colorado on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 1 p.m.

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