NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State women's soccer team is halfway through its 2008 spring season. The Redbirds have enjoyed success and growth so far in the spring with several challenging games still ahead. The Redbirds head upstate this weekend to face Loyola on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Originally, ISU was set to play two games at the Rockford Sportscore Complex in Rockford, Ill., against Loyola and Northern Illinois, but the threat of inclement weather and poor field conditions forced the change to just one game at Loyola. The Redbirds lost to the Ramblers, 2-1, in overtime last season.
Head coach Drew Roff is very happy with how his team has performed, despite having a limited roster size with the loss of seven seniors from the fall squad.
"I am very pleased with the progress our players have made so far this spring," said Roff. "With such a small roster of only 13 players there certainly are some challenges, but it has allowed us to spend more time focusing on improving each player individually from a technical and tactical standpoint. I have been very pleased with the development of our five freshmen as well. Some of them contributed more last fall than others, but they have all significantly improved over the last few months and are much more confident soccer players. That is really what the spring is all about."
Illinois State opened the spring schedule with three games at the University of Iowa on March 1. ISU tied all three matches, knotting up with North Dakota State, 1-1, and playing Saint Louis and a team of Iowa alumni to scoreless draws. After a few weeks off, the Redbirds returned to the pitch for a pair of games in Champaign, Ill., on March 29. ISU lost to Illinois, 2-0, and beat Eastern Illinois, 3-0.
With two weekends remaining in the season, Roff hopes that his team will continue to play hard and have a good base of training before the school year ends. He approaches spring games and training sessions as a time to improve skill levels and team cohesion.
"The spring season can be tough because it is a lot of training and a lot of hard work with very few matches," said Roff. "Players like to play and coaches like to use games to see where the team needs to improve. Our players have worked hard to get better and maintained a great attitude throughout so hopefully we can finish strong and play some good soccer during these last two weekends."
The Redbirds close out the spring schedule at home on April 20. They will face Central Michigan at 10 a.m. and DePaul at 2:30 p.m.
