Illinois State will take on the Oakland Grizzlies Friday at 4 p.m. and the Central Michigan Chippewas Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in the Holiday Inn Classic tournament held at Oakland University. The Redbirds will be looking for their third straight win of the season.
The Birds have played well at home in the first two games with a 2-0 record and look to continue that success on the road. The Birds are already playing better this season than they did at the start of 2003. Illinois State had only recorded four goals in the first six games last season, but have already recorded four goals in the first two games this year.
Oakland and Central Michigan are both very good teams, said head coach Pete Kowall. Each team is well-coached, organized and tactically sound. This will be a good test for us on the road this weekend.
Oakland, which is picked number one in preseason polls in the Mid-Continent Conference by the leagues head coaches, won last years season title with a perfect 6-0 mark and captured the Mid-Continent Conference Title. 2003 marked the Grizzlies third straight NCAA appearance. Oakland returns five starters from the 2003 squad. The Grizzlies 0-1, opened its season last week with a loss against Western Michigan, 2-1. Freshman Courtney McCracken scored the lone goal for OU.
Central Michigan, 0-2-0, has recorded losses this season to Detroit, 2-1 and DePaul, 3-1. Central Michigan returns seven of 11 starters from 2003. Three of the returning players were among the top scorers for CMU in 2003. Last season the two teams battled it out with the Grizzlies topping the Birds 1-0 on a penalty kick in overtime.
Im really looking forward to playing these two teams this weekend, said Kowall. We have been playing well at home. Now we have to continue with that on the road.
