Murray State scored first in their Missouri Valley Conference home opener on Sept. 26, but conceded a goal to UIC for the match to finish in a 1-1 draw.
Both teams were pretty evenly matched in the first half. Murray State outshot UIC 10-7 and forced the Flames’ graduate goalkeeper Francesca Faraci to make five saves in the first 45 minutes. Sophomore goalkeeper Griselda Revelorio made her two first half saves in the first 24 minutes of the match.
Murray State’s Mary Hardy and Breece Bass each had two shots on goal in the first half while Sami Wilson had one. UIC’s two shots on goal came from Riley Collett and Addison Carriere.
When the second half started, Murray State increased the pace of the game to pick up the slack from the scoreless first half. UIC fought hard to match the grit and tempo of the Racers. Griselda Revelorio came through with over five saves within the second half to keep the Flames on their heels.
Sophomore Ava Robinson made a huge hustle play with a steal on the Flames, opening the opportunity for Bass to run into the penalty area and get fouled. Senior defender Morgan Bodker scored the penalty kick against Faraci sixty-one minutes in, making that her third scored goal of the season, and putting the Racers ahead 1-0.
UIC wouldn’t stay down for long as junior midfielder Makenna Maloy would fire in the tying goal in the 67th minute. She received a pass just outside of the penalty area from junior midfielder Hannah Gryzik and put it past Revelorio’s outstretched left hand.
Despite conceding the equalizer, head coach Matt Lodge thought his team played good.
“I actually think we played really well,” Lodge said. “It was probably one of our most complete games of the season. In league play, one mistake can cost you points and we gave away two.”
Lodge is confident that his team will find wins soon, despite the back-to-back draws.
“We had a very non-conference [record],” Lodge said. “Still 10 games into this [season], we got a winning record, our three losses are against power 4’s, all tight games. Disappointed to be 0-0-2 but we’re still undefeated in league play and we’ve got to be happy with that.”
The Racers next match is in Carbondale, Illinois on Sept. 29 as they play Southern Illinois at 1 p.m.
