Redbirds to Kick Off 2026 Season Against Northern Illinois

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's soccer program kicks off its 2026 campaign against Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday evening at Adelaide Street Field. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.

Wednesday's season opener will be the Redbirds' 20th meeting all-time against the Huskies. Illinois State has a 13-4-2 all-time record against NIU, including an 8-2 mark in Normal.

The Huskies won the first-ever meeting between the two programs 2-1 on Oct. 30, 1996. NIU won the first three contests of the series before ISU went on a 15-game unbeaten streak between 1997 and 2021. NIU won the last meeting 1-0 on Sep. 12, 2024, marking the Huskies first win over the Redbirds since 1998.

Head coach Raleigh DeRose enters her third season at the helm in 2026 following an exciting postseason run, in which the Redbirds made their first MVC Tournament Title game since 2019 and hosted the championship game for the first time since 2016.

In the offseason, DeRose made six additions to the Redbird roster, including two freshman and four transfers. For the third consecutive year, DeRose has made at least three additions through the transfer portal, adding seniors Jordan Gary (Saint Louis) and Mikayla Carkhuff (North Dakota State) and sophomores Rowann Law (Missouri State) and Sosi Dadekian (Illinois), ahead of the 2026 season.

Illinois State returns 22 players from the 2025 roster. Among the 22 returning Redbirds, seven logged over 1000 minutes across the 22 games played a year ago. Sammi Cenek, Madi Valenti and Ava Watson lead the team in playing time, each with over 3,000 career minutes played in a Redbird uniform.

Valenti posted a standout season in 2025, becoming the first Redbird to earn MVC Goalkeeper of the Year since 2013. Valenti recorded 12 shutouts last season, which is the most in MVC and Illinois State history, en route to being named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's All-Midwest Region Third Team. Valenti and sophomore Grace Petrie were named to the preseason All-MVC team. As a unit, the Redbirds were picked second in the MVC preseason poll, receiving two first-place votes.

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