As the Illinois State womens soccer team prepares for a tough weekend of conference action, Allison Farrington earned a No. 4 national ranking in Division I Goals-Against Average (0.377). Illinois State wraps up the regular season of the Missouri Valley Conference with games against Creighton and Drake on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Its going to be a great weekend that will decide a lot of things throughout the league, head coach Pete Kowall said. Creighton is a good team and they did a really nice job last year. Its been a rocky road for them because theyve had a lot of injuries this year, but theyll be motivated to come and play us.
Illinois State will enter Fridays 3 p.m. contest with an 8-4-2 record and a four game winning streak. Last season, Creighton was the Redbirds nemesis as they were the only Valley foe to defeat the Birds in the regular season. The Bluejays also downed ISU in a heartbreaking 1-0 decision in the Valley Championship. In 2003, Creighton is 9-5-2 and owns a 3-2 Valley record.
Drake will also be a tough opponent for Illinois State, despite being just a second year program. The Bulldogs have the best overall record of Valley members at 11-5 and have not given up a goal in conference play. If the Redbirds can get past Creighton on Friday and the Bulldogs can down Northern Iowa, Sundays noon match-up could decide the Valley championship. Drake and Illinois State currently share the top spot in the Valley standings with identical 5-0 records.
Kowall doesnt believe Drakes youth will be an issue.
Drake is a second year program that has jumped to the top quickly because theyve had two great recruiting classes, Kowall said. I dont think their lack of experience will be a factor. They wont be nervous. Theyll come out ready to play.
Like Drake, Illinois State has yet to give up a goal to a Valley opponent. And the Redbirds have spread the wealth on offense as eleven players have accumulated points this season. In terms of points, Illinois State is led by two defenders and a forward: Heather Forsyth, Joyce Kleinheinz and Michelle Brumbaugh. Brumbaugh and Forsyth have three goals apiece and Kleinheinz has two goals and two assists.
Kleinheinz, a sophomore from Libertyville, Ill., has been especially effective in conference play. She scored Illinois States game-winning goals against Northern Iowa and Drury. And her breakaway in the SMS game led to the goalkeeper fouling her in the box, which set up Forsyths game-winning goal.
Joyce has done a great job this year. Shes part of the solid back line we have with Tiff (DeClark), Heather (Forsyth), Allison (Farrington), Kanisha (Campbell), Chrystal (Johnston), Amanda (Lauber) and others, Kowall said. And its nice that shes been able to get forward and score a few goals for us that were important. Shes a good athlete, shes strong and she does really well for us.
The Redbirds have recorded nine shutouts this season in large part due to their tenacious defense and goalkeeper Allison Farrington, who has eight shutouts. The senior captain has also helped Illinois State to a No. 6 ranking in shutout percentage (0.64).
