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Western Illinois University Athletics

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0
Western Ill. WIU (0-1-0, 0-0-0)
3
Winner Iowa St. ISU (1-0-0, 0-0-0)
Western Ill. WIU
(0-1-0, 0-0-0)
0
Final
3
Iowa St. ISU
(1-0-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Ill. WIU 0 0 0
Iowa St. ISU 2 1 3

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | WIU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Western Illinois Falls in Season Opener

Cyclones take advantage of early set pieces, come away with a three-nil victory.

AMES, IA - The Leatherneck Women's Soccer team kicked off the 2024 season on Thursday night in a matchup with Big 12 outfit Iowa State. The Cyclones started off hot with a pair of goals inside 11 minutes, and tacked on another in the second half for a three-nil win. 

Iowa State put the pressure on Western early, as a lobbed through ball in the second minute was called just offside. In the seventh, the Cyclones were attacking near the corner flag on the near side, and earned a corner kick. They converted off the corner, belting in a shot off the 18-yard box into the bottom-right corner of the net to make it one-nil. 

Not three minutes had past before the Cyclones had earned another corner after Leatherneck defender Alanna Pennington headed away a cross into the box. Their second corner proved to be just as deadly as the first. After taking a bounce into the box, it found a Cyclone attacker who calmly put it away into the top right corner of the net. 

In the remainder of the first, Iowa State continued to threaten to score, totaling six corners in the first half, but the Leatherneck defense held strong heading into the break. Western would get a few chances heading into the break, including a free kick attempt from Pennington that was saved. 

ISU rebounded to start the second half, immediately putting the pressure back on. They fired off a few shots from outside the box, before chipping one in from about seven yards out to make it three-nil. A few minutes later, Rachel Balinao fell victim to a nasty challenge from a Cyclone midfielder that sidelined her for the rest of the game, and resulted in a yellow for Iowa State. 

The Cyclones had plenty more chances in the final 30, but the three-nil score held until the final whistle. In total, the Leathernecks were out-shot 24-4, as keeper Isabel Navas Rodriguez racked up seven saves. 

Western travels back to Iowa on Sunday, this time to Cedar Falls as they take on Northern Iowa, kicking off at noon.
 
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