Illinois State will take on the Central Michigan Chippewas Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Adelaide Street Field. The Redbirds will be looking for their third straight win, which would be their longest winning streak this season. Central Michigan will also be looking for its third straight win.
Fridays going to be a tough game, Central (Michigan) is a very good team, head coach Pete Kowall said. Theyll be tough. Theyre well-disciplined, well-coached and they will be good individually, technically and tactically.
Kowall likes the improvement hes seen in his team recently. He thinks they will be tested Friday.
Well still be looking for improvement and after looking at the film, we did do some better things on Tuesday as far as creating more chances, Kowall said. This will be a good test for our team before conference play starts again next week.
Central Michigan and Illinois State are a study in similarities. Both Central Michigan and the Birds enter the game at 4-3-2. The Chippewas have had a knack for overtime contests just like Illinois State. Theyve played in four double overtime contests and ISU has played in three. CMU is 2-0-2 in overtime contests and the Birds are 1-0-2. But the similarities dont end there. Illinois State and Central Michigan have each given up nine goals thus far.
Illinois State enters the game fresh off a contest of firsts against Northern Illinois on Tuesday. In the match, junior Heather Forsyth recorded her first goal of the season and freshman Jaclyn Rucinsky earned the first goal and points of her collegiate career. Senior Tiffany DeClark also earned her first assist of the campaign, moving her into the top spot in the Redbird record book for career assists with 11. DeClark also holds the record for assists in a game and is tied for the lead in assists per season.
CMU is coming off a 2-1 win against Miami of Ohio. The Mid-American Conference members have already taken on six conference opponents. The Chippewas, whose roster is comprised of 15 underclassmen, are led by two sophomores and a freshman. Sophomore Rachel Snyder leads the team with four goals and one assist followed by sophomore Stacy Downing with 3 goals and 3 assists and freshman goalkeeper Anne Decker has recorded two shutouts.
The Redbirds faced the Chippewas in 2000 and walked away with a W, defeating CMU 1-0 in the Purdue Tournament.
