NORMAL, Ill. - Riding high off its first Missouri Valley Conference victory, the Illinois State women's soccer team takes a break from league action by hosting North Dakota State on Friday, before welcoming Missouri State to Adelaide Street Field on Sunday for the final regular-season Valley game of 2006.
Friday's 2:30 contest will be the first non-conference game Illinois State has played in five meetings. The matchup with the North Dakota State Bison marks the third of a five-game homestand and will be the first meeting between the teams in each program's history.
The Bison are first in the United Soccer Conference's West Division with a 3-0 record and are 8-5-1 overall. NDSU is riding a four-game winning streak with victories over Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Utah Valley State and IPFW. The winning streak ties the program's record as a Division I school.
Bison head coach Pete Cuadrado will experience a homecoming of sorts on Friday, as the fourth-year head coach spent the 2001-02 seasons in Normal as an assistant to ISU head coach Pete Kowall. During those two seasons, the Redbirds compiled a mark of 24-9-2, claiming the Valley regular-season title in 2001.
Kowall looks forward to the reunion with an old friend.
"Clearly Pete has done a great job at North Dakota State," said Kowall. "He is a good young coach and has helped to establish their program and get it off the ground. It will be great to see him."
Sunday's game between the Redbirds and the Missouri State Bears will also be played in Normal. The matchup will be the final Valley contest for both teams and will also serve as senior day and Heidecke day. Four Illinois State seniors will be honored prior to the game, including Meghan Boler, Kim Collins, Jackie Rucinsky and Andrea Shaw. The game will then be followed by an annual tribute to Julie Heidecke, a former soccer player who was killed in a car accident in 1998.
The Redbirds have an upper hand in the all-time series against Missouri State. ISU leads the series, 9-3-5, though the last three games between the squads have ended in a 1-1 tie in double-overtime. The `Birds notched their last win over the Bears on November 7, 2003, in the semi-finals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Illinois State defeated MSU, 1-0, to earn a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference title game.
As of Friday, October 20, Missouri State is tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 2-2-1 record. Overall, the Bears are 9-6-2, with five victories coming away from MSU's Plaster Field. Missouri State has proven to be one of the top offenses in the Valley this season. The Bears are the league leader in goals (30), points (89) and shots on goal (259).
"Sunday will be a big day for us," said Kowall. "It will be important for us to make a statement in the last game against Missouri State and hopefully go into the post-season on a high note. A lot of things can happen and it will be exciting to see how the league shakes out after Friday's and Sunday's games."
