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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois women's soccer previously had a player with three assists in a game on five occasions in the program's history. On Sunday afternoon
Kayla Stolfa surpassed those efforts as she set the school record with four assists during Eastern Illinois 5-1 win over Chicago State at Lakeside Field.
The win pushed EIU's record to 3-2-1 on the season while Chicago State fell to 1-5 on the year.
Stolfa helped the Panthers set the tone in the opening minutes as she quickly played a ball up the left side that
Kate Olson passed on to
Pilar Barrio for an EIU goal with 3:35 off the clock in the opening half. It was Barrio's second goal of the season.
Stolfa then assisted on the first of two goals by
Hannah Heinz as EIU took a 2-0 lead in the 28th minute. Heinz finished off a cross from the right side into the goal box. Heinz would add her second goal in the 35th minute again finishing off a break with the assist from Stolfa and Olson.
EIU's third goal came in the 29th minute off the foot of
Henar Urteaga as she beat the goalkeeper one on one off an assist from
Angela Corcoran.
The record setting assist came from Stolfa in the 48th minute as the Panthers quickly extended the lead to 5-0 in the second half.
Niondina Nystrom beat both a defender and the goalkeeper from the top right of the goal box after the pass from Stolfa.
EIU had previously had a player finish a match with three assists on five occasions, the last was in 2003 by Trisha Walter against Western Illinois. Stolfa did tie the Ohio Valley Conference record as she became the fourth player in conference history with four assists in a match. The last OVC player to do it was Barbara Tomaszek of Tennessee Tech in 2003 against Murray State.
Chicago State was able to get on the scoreboard in the 64th minute as Samantha Noonan redirected a deflected shot into the goal. Noonan's goal was assisted by Makayla Pearl.
EIU finished the match with 16 shots on goal compared to just four shots on goal for Chicago State.
Maddie Lyon finished the match with three saves for EIU. Gabby Klemp played the first half for CSU making four saves. Bailey McFarland had six saves in the second half.
The Panthers return to action at home next weekend as they will host Fort Wayne on Friday at 3 p.m. and Western Illinois on Sunday at 1 p.m.
