NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State soccer team's quest for its fourth-straight Missouri Valley Conference tournament tile begins tonight at 6 p.m. against Missouri State in the semifinals. The Redbirds are hosting the tournament for the first time in program history and enter as the top seed.
A week removed from one of the biggest offensive outbursts in school history, the Redbirds seem to be playing their best soccer of the season. Five different players scored last Thursday against Idaho and Kelli Zickert led the way with two goals and an assist. She was also named MVC Freshman of the Year last night at the tournament awards banquet.
Tonight, ISU will face a familiar foe in Missouri State. Earlier this season, ISU defeated the Bears 2-0 behind two goals from the MVC Player of the Year Rachel Tejada. The Redbirds won seven of their final eight games in the regular season and have posted three consecutive shutouts.
Shutting out Missouri State won't be the easiest task as the Bears feature a potent combo at the front of the attack. Molly Huber finished second behind Tejada in goals scored this season, and netted her 13th of the season in the quarterfinals against Northern Iowa. That goal broke the all-time single season record at Missouri State.
Joining Huber up front is Molly Brewer. Brewer scored six goals and dished out a team-high seven assists. She was named to the All-MVC Second Team this season.
Missouri State has alternated wins and losses since Sept. 25, but avenged a loss to Northern Iowa, by knocking them out of the tournament 2-0. Now, they must face an ISU team that led the Valley in goals with 47.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the match will follow the first semifinal of second-seeded Evansville versus third-seeded Drake. The championship match will be Sunday at 1 p.m. All three matches will be played at Adelaide Street Field and broadcast live on ESPN3.
ISU's match will also be broadcast on WZND 103.3 and GoRedbirds.com
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
