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NORMAL, Ill. - A lot of good things can happen with nothing to show for it in soccer, that's been the story of Miami's non-conference season.

Despite creating the two best scoring opportunities on Sunday, Miami (0-7) was on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision in its tilt at Illinois State (3-4-2) in its final non-conference match this season.

"We had a good game plan going in, we were well scouted and well drilled for today," Interim Head Coach Hugh Seyfarth said. "We have to convert our opportunities. We worked a lot on corner kicks and we were dangerous on several of them. The effort is there, but we weren't able to execute. Once we fell behind, we started to chase the game and got stretched out on counter attacks."

Miami maintained possession for long stretches in the first half, though Illinois State finished with a 10-5 shot advantage in the opening frame. Three of Miami's five attempts were on goal and MU had the better of the offensive chances in the first 45 minutes of play. One of those attempts that was not on goal was the best of the frame on either side as Haley Paez got behind the ISU defense with numbers in the final minute before halftime. The freshman attempted to feed a teammate at the far post, but the pass did not connect and the ball went out of play to leave the contest scoreless at the break.

Illinois State came out firing early in the second half and while Patricia Koutoulas stood tall throughout the day, an Angel Krell shot in the 51st minute found the upper 90 and put the Redbirds on top 1-0. The RedHawks countered with a quick flurry of shots 20 minutes into the second half and nearly found an equalizer then and there. Chloe Knue got free for a point blank chance in traffic that glanced off the cross bar and stayed out. Later, Knue was played in atop the six-yard box on the left side, but her shot went just a hair wide.

The Redbirds put together several counter attacks with the RedHawks pressing numbers forward in search of a goal, but Koutoulas continued to help ISU at bay and keep it a one-shot contest. A late foul by ISU created a free kick from around midfield and a dangerous ball was played into the box where Olivia Winnett got a foot on a loose ball, but Haley Smith smothered the shot to preserve the shutout.

Shots in the end were 19-13 in favor of Illinois State while Miami had a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks. Koutoulas stopped nine of the 10 shots ISU put on target while Smith posted a five-save shutout at the other end.

Miami begins Mid-American Conference play on Friday when it heads to Toledo. Opening kick is at 4 p.m.