First woman plays in MISL

ST. LOUIS -- Lindsay Kennedy became the first woman to play in a Major Indoor Soccer League game Saturday night.

Kennedy, a St. Louis forward, participated in the final 76 seconds of Milwaukee's 7-3 win over the Steamers at Savvis Center.

A season-high crowd of 13,798 turned out for the match, the largest crowd this season for any of the seven teams in the league.

Kennedy, 24, a St. Louis native, recorded four touches in her brief stint.

Milwaukee forward Marcelo Fontana stole the ball from her and drilled it three-fourths of the length of the field into an empty net to nail down the victory with 50 seconds left.

St. Louis player/coach Daryl Doran said Kennedy likely needs more game experience.

"I wanted to get her in earlier," he said. "But the game wasn't heading in that direction."

The Steamers signed Kennedy to a five-game, 15-day contract on Thursday. She was added to the 20-player roster before the match on Saturday.

"I think it was a good opportunity for me," Kennedy said. "Nobody else has accomplished this, so I'm pretty proud of it."

Kennedy became the fourth woman to play for a men's professional indoor team.

Kristine Lilly was the last woman to perform in a professional indoor soccer league.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lilly played for the Washington Warthogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League in 1995.

Collette Cunningham and Shannon Presley also played in the CISL in 1994.

Kennedy was a starter as a freshman forward at Kansas University in 1998.

She scored seven goals, recorded five assists, and was chosen as the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week the third week of the season.

After her freshman year, she transferred to Harris-Stowe State College in suburban St. Louis where she scored 61 goals and had 22 assists in three seasons, both school career records that still stand.

Her 24 goals and 56 points in 2000 set a single-season scoring record at the school.