NORMAL, Ill. - Even though it is mid-September, the Illinois State soccer team will head south this weekend, making its first-ever trip to Florida. The Redbirds (3-3-0) visit Central Florida (3-1-1) Friday at 6 p.m. and South Florida (2-1-1) Sunday at noon. This weekend's games will end a seven-match road trip for the Redbirds, which is tied for the longest in program history.
The Redbirds are making just their second trip to the East Coast for a game (ISU played Navy in Annapolis, Md. in 1997). ISU will face a regionally-ranked team for the third-straight game when it takes on UCF. The Knights are ranked seventh in the Southeast Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and ninth by Soccer Buzz. South Florida is currently 2-1-1 and in fifth place in the American Division of the BIG EAST Conference.
"We are really looking forward to travelling down to Florida and seeing how we stack up against two very good teams," said head coach Drew Roff. "It is always exciting to see a different part of the country and play teams from out of region that you aren't really familiar with. We know that to have success we must continue to defend at a very high level, but our focus right now is on finding ways to generate more scoring chances. If we are able to continue to develop the chemistry of our midfielders and our forwards in these two matches it will certainly help us gain some momentum once we finally get back home next weekend and when conference play begins in a couple of weeks."
FIRST TIME'S THE CHARM Illinois State has played 51 different teams in 12 seasons of women's soccer. The Redbirds have a 23-27-1 record when facing a team for the first time. Last season, ISU beat Morehead State and lost to Oregon in its two first-time matchups of the year. ISU has played just one game against a team from Conference USA, losing to Tulane in 1996. DePaul is the only BIG EAST foe that the Redbirds have faced, posting a 2-1-0 record.
GRILL-DONOVAN IS A KEEPER Junior goalkeeper Katie Grill-Donovan has played very well throughout the first three weeks of the season. Already in 2008, she has posted a shutout, tied her career-high in saves and not allowed more than two goals in any game. She has 14 saves over the last two games, the most during a two game period in her career. She is second in the Valley in goals against average (1.09), tied for third in save percentage (.806) and fourth in saves (25).
