Despite the loss of defender Heather Forsyth with a season ending injury, the Illinois State womens soccer team will look for a win Thursday afternoon when they match-up against conference foe Northern Iowa. This game marks the last conference regular season game for the Redbirds. The team will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on the Panthers at 4 p.m. on Thursday at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex.
Junior Heather Forsyth will sit out the remainder of the season as she suffered a broken leg in the game against Creighton over the weekend. The 2003 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year was trying to clear a ball in the last few seconds of the game when a Creighton player took her down.
Its very disappointing to lose Heather to an injury like this, said head coach Pete Kowall. Heather has been through this process before with another injury and will have to rehab and get through it. Its never easy to lose a player like Heather.
In the Missouri Valley Conference standings, Northern Iowa is right behind the Birds in sixth place. The Panthers hold a 2-4-0 record in the Valley while the Birds have posted a 2-2-2 record.
Kowall and the Birds look to take down the Panthers and record a win in the last game of the conference regular season.
Our objective on Thursday is to score as many goals as we can and get a win, said Kowall. Its the last game of the regular conference season, were looking forward to the game and ending the season on a winning note.
In the four meetings between Illinois State and Northern Iowa, the Birds have swept the Panthers outscoring them 13-0. In last years meeting the Birds were victorious with a 1-0 double overtime win.
Shanon Dechant, a junior forward for the Panthers, has been the go-to-girl as she has recorded five goals and one assist to lead the team. In 2003, Dechant led all scorers in the Missouri Valley conference with seven goals.
The Panthers are coming off a tough weekend as they fell to Creighton, 4-0 on Friday evening in Omaha, Neb., and then dropped another game to the Bulldogs of Drake on Sunday afternoon, 3-0.
