NORMAL, Ill. - After winning seven-straight games, the Illinois State women's soccer team could clinch a share of the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Regular-Season Championship with a win on Sunday as it hosts Valley opponent Drake at 1 p.m. at Adelaide Street Field. Missouri State is only one win behind Illinois State in the standings and plays at Indiana State Friday at 6 p.m.
The Redbirds are only one win away from tying the program record for most consecutive wins in Illinois State and only two wins away from tying the league record. The last time Illinois State won eight-straight games was in 2001, while the Valley record is nine-straight wins set by Eastern Illinois in 1996.
"It will be another tough game for us on Sunday, but we are excited to get back on the field," said head coach Drew Roff. "We have had great balance lately with several players finding the back of the net, and we have defended pretty well. We are just going to try to continue to do the things that have been successful for us and try to be as sharp as possible. This is the time of year that players and coaches enjoy the most because every game has meaning."
Sunday's game will also mark Senior Day, where seven Redbird seniors will be honored before the start of the game. The seniors include Brenna Bohl, Shannon Eccleston, Katie Grill-Donovan, Amy Heredia, Danielle Mutters, Raquel Rattray and Ammanda Wisniewski.
The Redbirds (9-5-1, 4-0-0 MVC) remain undefeated at home and undefeated in conference play and are coming off back-to-back shutout victories over Northern Iowa (Oct. 14.) and Evansville (Oct. 18).
On the season, the Redbirds are tied for fourth in program history for goals in a season with 34 and rank fifth for points in a season at Illinois State with 90. The Redbirds have also scored four or more goals in five games this season.
Redbird sophomore Jessica Carlson leads the team in points this season with 21, moving her to fifth place of points in a season at Illinois State.
MVC Defensive Player of the Week, Sasha Reiber is now 6-4-1 on the season in goal for the Redbirds with four shutouts. Reiber has 10 shutout victories in her career to rank third in Illinois State history for career shutouts.
Drake is 7-7-3 overall and 2-2-0 in Valley play and is coming off a 2-0 loss to Missouri State (Oct. 18).
Drake leads the all-time series against Illinois State, 5-3-2 The last time the two teams met was on November 1, 2008, when Illinois State defeated Drake, 1-0. Four games between the two teams have been decided in overtime, while ISU has won the last three match-ups.
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