NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State women's soccer team will open its regular season this weekend in Ohio with matches against Akron and Kent State. The Redbirds will play the Zips on Friday, before wrapping up the weekend Sunday against the Golden Flashes. It will be the first time in program history that Illinois State has played Akron or Kent State in women's soccer.
The Redbirds were picked first in the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, after finishing last season with a 12-7-1 record, winning their third-consecutive MVC Regular-Season championship and the 2009 State Farm MVC Tournament title.
Akron posted a 9-7-2 mark in 2009, including a 7-3-1 record in Mid-American Conference play, setting a program record for most MAC wins in a season. The Zips were tabbed second in the MAC East in the preseason coaches' poll, after winning their last six regular-season matches and return leading scorer Rachel Phillip and starting goalkeeper Jeny Wolbert.
Kent State, picked fourth in the MAC East in the preseason coaches' poll, finished 8-9-2 overall last season and 4-5-2 in MAC contests. The Golden Flashes return seven starters from last year's squad, including Kellyn Flanagan, who tied for a team-high with four goals, and starting goalkeeper Kelly Sherwood.
"This weekend will be a nice road trip to see how we stack up early in the season," head coach Drew Roff said. "Sometimes it's nice to play teams that you are not that familiar with. We will go into the game with a couple of ideas with what we are trying to do, but it is all about getting ourselves ready. Sometimes you get caught up on trying to game plan so much for the other team that you forget about what you are trying to do. This early in the season, we are trying to get our team developed, get a rhythm going, and get everyone on the same page. If we do that, it will be a good weekend for us."
Illinois State concluded the preseason with a 1-1 record, falling to Valparaiso, 1-0, in the opener before defeating IUPUI, 5-1, in its final exhibition match. Sophomore Rachel Bostick led the Redbirds with four points during the preseason, scoring a pair of goals against IUPUI. Senior Alyssa Schulz, junior Mary Sahm and freshman Allie Newsom added goals against the Jaguars, while junior Jessica Carlson distributed a pair of assists.
The Redbirds are 7-5-2 all-time in season openers and 9-5-0 all-time in road openers. ISU has won two of its last three season-opening games. Last season, Illinois State dropped its season opener to nationally-ranked Illinois.
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