NORMAL, Ill. - Two of the top teams in Missouri Valley Conference soccer will meet Friday night in Springfield, Mo., when Illinois State (6-4-0, 1-0-0 MVC) takes on Missouri State (7-3-1, 1-0-0 MVC) in a 7 p.m. match at Painter Field. ISU boasts a league-best 2.50 goals per game, while the Bears are holding opponents to just 1.09 goals per game.
The Redbirds opened conference play with a 2-0 blanking of Drake last Sunday at Adelaide Street Field for their third shutout of the season. Junior Rachel Bostick headed in a corner kick service from sophomore Anna Stinson midway through the first half and freshman Mia Patrevito added an insurance goal in the 87th minute for her first-career points on two of ISU's season-high 32 shots. Freshman Rachel Tejada was held without a point in Sunday's win and now ranks sixth in the nation with a team-high 12 goals and 28 points.
"Drake did a great job of defending and they made it hard for us to break them down," head coach Drew Roff said. "From our standpoint, we were able to put them under a lot of pressure and create a lot of shots and several corner kick opportunities. We did exactly what we wanted to do, but we made it a little harder on ourselves by not finishing some of our chances early in the game."
Missouri State welcomes Illinois State to Painter Field with the Valley's best record at 7-3-1 and the Bears are unbeaten in their last six contests. MSU has allowed just one goal in that six-game span and shutout Indiana State, 1-0, in its conference opener last Friday in Terre Haute, Ind. Missouri State was tabbed third, one spot behind the Redbirds, in the annual MVC Preseason Coaches' Poll and is led offensively by Bethany Smith. Smith has tallied eight points on three goals and a pair of assists, while Nia Williams leads the Bears with five assists. Goalkeeper Jessica Teahan, an All-MVC First Team honoree last season, leads the stifling MSU defense with 63 saves and a 1.08 goals against average in her 998 minutes in goal.
"Missouri State is always tough, they are always organized defensively and they have a great goalkeeper," Roff said. "We know that we can create chances against them, but we have to be able to put those chances away. They are a team that has had some success against us in the past and that is something we would like to change, but we know what they bring and it is going to be a hard-fought conference game."
Friday's contest will mark the 25th meeting between the Redbirds and Bears, with ISU leading the all-time series, 11-5-8. Last season, the two teams played to a pair of ties and Missouri State ended Illinois State's season on penalty kicks in the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament.
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