Coming off a 6-0 victory over Northern Illinois in its season opener last Friday, the Illinois State soccer team will look to notch two more wins this weekend when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., to participate in the 2000 Boilermaker Cup Challenge, hosted by Purdue.
The Redbirds, 1-0, will take on the Boilermakers in a semifinal match on Friday, September 1 at 4 p.m. Central Michigan and West Virginia, the two other schools participating in the tournament, will play following the first game.
At 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 3, a consolation game will be played followed by the championship match at 2 p.m. Depending on the results of Fridays games, the Redbirds will play in one of those games.
Purdue (2-0), which defeated Missouri last weekend, finished 10th in the Big Ten last season with an 8-11-0 overall record. Central Michigan is 1-1 in 2000 while West Virginia is 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big East Conference.
Redbird head coach Pete Kowall said that it is an honor to be invited to the tournament and it should be an exciting event, considering the teams involved.
Purdue is a very good team that beat Missouri last weekend and is 2-0 so far, Kowall said. They are very versatile with flexibility and are well coached. We definitely have our work cut out for us and it will be an interesting game on Friday.
As far as Central Michigan and West Virginia, Central Michigan will have a really good chance at winning the Mid-Atlantic Conference this season and they are very strong, Kowall continued. And West Virginia, which beat James Madison last weekend (a preseason top-25 contender) will be tough also. We just need to go out and play our best against some good teams.
Kowall added that with the return of Kelly Mahan, the Redbirds third-leading scorer in 1999 who has been injured, and Ellen Dooremont, a freshman from Belgium, in the lineup, ISU will be at full strength for the first time this season when it takes the field for the challenge.
With the return of Kelly and Ellen this weekend, we should be at full force on the field, Kowall said. We will just have to see what happens and have a fun time playing in a respected tournament against good, solid teams.
