NORMAL, Ill. - According to Missouri Valley Conference head coaches, the Illinois State women's soccer team is tied for third in pre-season standings. But Redbird head coach Pete Kowall has much higher expectations for his 2006 squad, as the team prepares for the regular-season slate by hosting two exhibition matches this week.
"This poll is both good and bad," Kowall said. "There are a lot of things about each team that opposing coaches and others don't know, which can make the voting hard. The poll does prove that some people around the league think that we are still going to be in the top half of the conference. But, as a team, we aren't satisfied with that. We are only interested in winning the league and that is the goal heading into this season. We're looking forward to getting the season started, and especially getting into the conference matchups to see where everyone stands."
Trailing both Creighton and Drake in first and second place, respectively, Illinois State tied with Evansville in third with 29 total points. The poll was rounded out by Missouri State (24) Indiana state (14) and Northern Iowa (11). The Bluejays garnered six of the possible seven first-place votes, while tallying 48 total poll points. This marks the second-straight year that Creighton has been picked to win the Valley regular season.
Both Butler and UW-Milwaukee will travel to Normal in pre-season contests. The `Birds host the Bulldogs on Wednesday in a 2 p.m. scrimmage and then welcome the Panthers on Sunday for a noon matchup.
"These scrimmages are going to be great for us," Kowall said. "Our kids are needing to play against someone else instead of against one another in practice. These games are wonderful opportunities to get game film and talk to the kids and get them to improve as players. Both Butler and Milwaukee are very talented, well-coached teams. These scrimmages will give us a good idea of where we stand heading into the season."
The overall series is tied between Butler and Illinois State, as the Bulldogs defeated the `Birds both in 2001 and 2002. ISU won 4-3 in 1999, and pulled out an overtime victory (3-2) at Butler in 2000.
Illinois State and UW-Milwaukee have met in nine of the ten years that ISU has been playing women's soccer, with the Panthers leading the all-time series, 5-2-2. Last season, Illinois State was defeated in a heartbreaking overtime loss in Milwaukee, when the winning goal was scored in the 91st minute.
With hopes of moving up in the rankings, the Redbirds will start their regular season on Friday, Aug. 25 at UW-Green Bay.
