Head coach Pete Kowall and the Illinois State womens soccer team will wrap up the regular season Thursday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Adelaide Street Field against the Cardinals of Ball State.
Kowall believes that matching up against Ball State will be good for his team before the post-season.
Thursdays game is going to be great, said Kowall. Ball State is a very good team. We hope to have a good game like we did against Northwestern to prepare us for a play-in game over the weekend.
Senior forward Dee Nocero leads Ball State, 10-2-6 overall and 5-2-5 in the Mid-American Conference. For the Cardinals, Nocero has recorded 6 goals and four assists for 16 points. Ball State wrapped up their conference season over the weekend but must wait until the end of the week to see if it earns a home quarterfinal match.
The Birds, 9-5-3 overall and 3-2-2 in the Missouri Valley, are in the same situation in conference play. As they finish up the regular season on Thursday with a non-conference match-up, other Missouri Valley teams will be going head-to-head to battle for the three through six seeds. Depending on how the Valley games play out, the Birds will know if they will host a play-in game or have to travel for the game on Sunday.
Illinois State and the Cardinals have only met twice, in 1999 and 2000, with the Birds capturing both victories.
Michelle Brumbaugh still leads the Birds in points, but scoring has been well distributed among the team. Seven Redbirds players have scored three goals apiece this season. Sophomore Kanisha Campbell has proved to be an offensive threat for Illinois State as she has scored three goals in the last seven games for the Redbirds.
