After ending the regular season with a Valley record of 5-1-1 and the No. 2 Valley tournament seed, the Illinois State womens soccer team is ready to make a run for the title and reclaim their preseaon position atop the Valley at this weekends Iron Kids Bread/Missouri Valley Conference Soccer Championship.
The Redbirds automatically qualified for the semi-final game with their No. 2 regular season standing. Illinois State will face Evansville, who advanced to the semi-final round after beating Drake, 1-0, in the play-in game. The Redbirds will take on the Purple Aces, Friday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sportport in Maryland Heights, Mo. Illinois State beat Evansville, 2-0, in the regular season.
Evansville is good, and they are much better than their record shows, said head coach Pete Kowall. Obviously Creighton has proven that they are the team to beat. Every game we played this year was close. We are taking it one game at a time, just like we have done all year.
While injuries have plagued the Birds throughout the season, the team seems to be closer to full strength than it has been all year. The team practiced as usual this week and head into the weekend looking at the Valley Tournament as a clean slate.
This weeks practices went well and the team practiced just as hard as they always have, said Kowall. Dana Schulte and Joyce Kleinheinz both look better and should be ready to see some time on the field. The kids have shown that they are excited to get to the tournament and give it their all.
The winner of the Illinois State vs. Evansville game will advance to the finals to play the winner of the Creighton and Northern Iowa game. The championship game is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sunday, Nov. 10 at the Sportport and will be televised live on Fox Sports Net Midwest, Fox Sports Net Chicago and Metro Sports in Kansas City.
