NORMAL, Ill. - Freshman Dagny Olson's goal in the first half was enough to lead the Illinois State soccer team past Loyola, 1-0, Sunday afternoon during "Kick for a Cure" at Adelaide Street Field. Goalkeeper Aryn Newsomand the Redbird defense combined to post their second shutout in the last three games for ISU's third-straight win.

After generating just six shots in their last match, a 2-1 win at Indiana State on Oct. 4, the Redbirds (8-6-0, 2-0-0 MVC) fired 18 shots in the win over LU (4-7-4, 1-2-0 MVC). Olson's goal, her fifth of the season, all of which have come in the last seven games, was scored in the 22nd minute. Ali Farkos, making her first start of the season, played a ball ahead to Olson, who corralled it at her feet about 25 yards out. She continued her run forward while being flanked by two defenders, before entering the box and firing a shot into the back of the net to give the Redbirds a 1-0 lead.

"In the first half, we created a couple great chances, and we got the goal when Ali played a real nice final pass to Dagny, who made a great run," head coach Drew Roff said. "We had been missing that final touch and final pass that can unbalance the defense, and we got it there."

From there, the ISU defense did the rest of the work, limiting the Ramblers to just six shots the entire match. Newsom made four saves, including one on a point-blank opportunity for Loyola's Maggie Olsen in the 73rd minute. The shutout was particularly impressive considering it was the Redbirds' first match without defensive stalwart Alyse Williams, who played every minute of every game before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the win over the Sycamores last week.

"I'm very pleased with how our players stepped up," Roff said. "We've talked about how losing Alyse is a tough blow, but we have other players that have to step up and fill that void, and that's what happened today. Rhianna Krutz stepped and did a great job defensively.

"All in all, just a great team effort," Roff added. "To get the shutout with a couple of new players in the rotation, I'm very pleased with that."

Olson led all players with a career-high six shots, while Rachel Tejada tallied five. ISU also took a season-high 14 corner kicks, all of which were struck by Krutz.

The Redbirds' next match is at Northern Iowa, Thursday, before they return home to play defending MVC regular-season champion Evansville, Sunday.

GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more. 

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