INDIANAPOLIS - The Southern Illinois women's soccer team rallied from a goal down to take down the Jaguars 3-1 in a non-conference match at Carroll Stadium on Sunday (Aug. 24), played under near perfect weather conditions. IU Indy (0-3) took an early lead with a goal in the first half, but Southern Illinois responded with three goals in a 12-minute stretch of the second half to secure the win. 

The Jaguars had the better run of play throughout the first half, highlighted by a Keilah Muldrow goal in the 36th minute. Hannah Roberson played service from the right side, allowing Muldrow to get on the receiving end and redirect a header past SIU keeper Lily Murray for the first goal yielded by the Salukis this season. IU Indy senior goalkeeper Sarah Bambrick made just one save in the opening half, but it was a banner effort, stopping a Dory Latenser attempt in the 41st minute. 

"Oh it was great energy. We saw it. We were able to connect on all lines, use the width of the field like we wanted to switch. As soon as we knew that Keilah was gonna get a chance to play, she was like, coach, just give me some minutes. It was great to see her back on the pitch because we need what she brings, which was the energy she was on the other end and got us our goal," White said of the opening half. "We wanted to dominate in terms of getting some shots off. We did that. We wanted to get some more on the other end, just to capitalize, but we only had one (goal) going into the half. We said it's gonna take more and said, it's gonna take 90 minutes, but that first 45 was exactly what we were looking for out of our team."

SIU (3-0) upped the intensity at the start of the second half, but the Jaguars continued to cling to the one-goal lead until the 76th minute. Bambrick got her mitts on a Michelle Betancourt attempt from in close, but Penny Warner pounced on the rebound and scored from point blank range for an equalizer. 

Betancourt netted the winner in the 81st minute when a Sophia Schlicklin long throw-in got in behind the IU Indy defense, leading to a one-on-one with Bambrick. The SIU attacker slotted a shot past Bambrick for her first tally of the year. The Salukis added insurance in the 88th minute when Dior Knorr had a nifty turn at the top of the 18 and laced a shot off the underside of the bar and into the net.

"(SIU) just stepped up their game a little bit, they knew that they needed to win those second chance balls. They're a little bit more physical on us. I think that hindered us a little bit. For us, we just need to stop making our mental mistakes that we've been talking about, and rely on what we know, that's team first mentality," White said of the second half. "Everybody has to step up and make sure that even if a mistake is made, somebody's there to help them out. We're still working on that aspect and we'll grow and hopefully get 90 minutes worth of this energy that we saw in the first 45."

The Jaguars closed with a 13-11 shot advantage and 5-4 edge on corner kicks. Senior Emma Frey had a team-high three shot attempts and Anika Guenther and Caroline Kelley had two apiece. Guenther nearly found a go-ahead goal in the 76th minute, but hit a left-footed laser right at Murray. 

The Jaguars will return to action on Wednesday night (Aug. 27) when they travel to Indiana State for a 7:00 p.m. kick on ESPN+.