The Illinois State womens soccer team will have a tough weekend of competition as they take on conference leaders, Drake and Creighton on the road Friday and Sunday.
Head coach Pete Kowall knows it will be a tough weekend for the Birds, but is looking forward to it and ready for the challenges.
This is by far the hardest road trip of the season, said head coach Pete Kowall. Drake and Creighton are two very good teams. Theyll be tough places for us to win.
The Birds, 7-4-2 and 2-1-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, will take on conference leader Drake, 8-4-2 and 4-0-0 in the Valley Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are led by junior Andrea Schmitz. Schmitz has been an offensive threat this season, recording seven goals, six assists for twenty points. Helping her out on the offensive is freshman Melissa Nelson who has five goals and two assists. Schmitz is currently tied for first in the conference in goals while Nelson is third.
In 2003 the Birds lost their only conference match-up with the Bulldogs, 1-0 allowing them to share a piece of the Missouri Valley Conference title.
Creighton, 6-5-2 and 2-0-1 in the Valley will take on Northern Iowa Friday and then play host to the Birds Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Kristine Willrett, a freshman for the BlueJays, leads the team in goals with four and two assists for ten points. Junior Chelsea Mackenzie has also helped move Creighton to the top of the league, chipping in three goals and five assists.
In the regular season game against Creighton in 2003, Jaclyn Rucinsky and Lauren Kahlenbeck each scored a goal to give the Birds the win, 2-1. In tournament play however, the Birds had a tougher time defeating the Bluejays. After 110 minutes of scoreless action, the game was decided by penalty kicks. Illinois State connected on five penalty kicks to Creightons four advancing the Birds to the NCAA College Cup for the first time in program history.
Weve been training well this week and are ready for the weekend, said Kowall. We played well last weekend against SMS and Drury and are looking to improve even more in these next two games.
In conference play the Birds have had several players step up and record goals. No single player has been a dominant offensive factor, as scoring has come from Kahlenbeck, Michelle Brumbaugh, Robyn Brady, Heather Forsyth, Kanisha Campbell and Jaclyn Roepke.
