NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State soccer team (8-5-0, 3-1-0 MVC) will play its last road match of the regular season when it travels to Terre Haute, Ind., Friday evening for a 6 p.m. contest with Indiana State (3-11-0, 0-3-0 MVC) at Memorial Stadium.
The Redbirds are coming off a convincing 3-1 win over Evansville last Sunday on Heidecke/Senior Day. ISU outshot the Purple Aces, 28-3, and held UE without a shot in the first half. Freshman Rachel Tejada netted a pair of goals to lead Illinois State offensively. She raised her season totals to 15 goals and 34 points, which rank her fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively. Sophomore Kyla Cross finished the afternoon with three points with the game-winning goal and an assist and senior Jessica Carlson tied Illinois State's single-season assist record with her seventh of the year.
"Sunday was a good performance for our team overall," head coach Drew Roff said. "We controlled the tempo of the game and the early goal certainly set the tone. It was a good, solid performance. The only negative I could come up with is that we dominated the game and didn't get the shutout, but overall it was a great performance."
ISU has been the top offense team in the Missouri Valley Conference this season and leads the league in all offensive categories with 30 goals, 27 assists, 87 points, 102 corner kicks and 283 shots. The Redbirds have outshot league opponents, 109-23, in four Valley matches and are averaging 20.2 shots per game on the season, which currently stands as the second-best mark in program history.
Indiana State will be looking to snap a seven-game winless skid when it hosts Illinois State for its own Senior Day. The Sycamores are winless in three conference games and suffered a 2-0 loss at Northern Iowa in their last outing. Indiana State was tabbed fourth in the annual MVC Preseason Coaches' Poll and returns nine starters from last year's squad that finished fifth in the final MVC standings. Natalie Vaught leads the Sycamores with eight points on two goals and four assists and has been their main offensive threat since senior leader Alison Gasparovich went down with an injury Sept. 16 at Ohio. Defensively, goalkeeper Emily Lahay leads Indiana State with 58 saves in her 934 minutes in net.
"Indiana State has had some injury issues, but we know what they are capable of," Roff said. "Last year they really tested us and played us down to the wire. We understand that everyone is fighting for something in conference play, and even if you are not at the top of the table, you are fighting to get into the conference tournament. Indiana State is a hardworking team that plays physical, and we are going to have to be sharp."
Friday night's match will mark the 15th meeting between the two ISUs, with Illinois State holding an 11-3-0 advantage in the all-time series. The Redbirds have won seven of the last eight meetings and topped the Sycamores twice last season, with the second victory coming in a 2-1, double-overtime thriller in the quarterfinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament.
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