Illinois State womens soccer head coach Pete Kowall will look at the Redbirds first exhibition game against Northwestern on Saturday, August 16 at 10 a.m. as a gauge to see how well his team is doing.
The Birds fell just short of winning the Missouri Valley Conference title and getting a chance to play in the NCAA College Cup in 2002. They achieved a 12-5-2 record last season and a second place finish in regular season conference play. Northwestern finished the 2002 campaign 4-9-5 overall and 2-6-2 in the Big Ten Conference. Illinois State will face two other Big Ten teams in regular season contests this year, Purdue and Illinois.
These warm-up games are good for us to see what we need to work on, Kowall said. Were going to be putting people in different positions to see how they do.
The Redbirds return 16 players this year; however, there are nine freshman that need to adjust to the caliber of play at the college level.
Our freshmen are doing pretty well but weve had a few injuries already, Kowall said. Its a work in progress. Were still in the hunt and see mode at this point.
The freshmen will need to adjust to the college style of play, yet their class enters the preseason rated No. 75 nationally by Soccer Buzz Magazine. This ranking is compiled from 285 Division I womens soccer programs. The newcomers also garnered a No. 12 ranking in the Great Lakes Region by the same publication.
Illinois State will host two exhibition games at Adelaide Street Field before starting the regular season at Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday, August 29.
