Illinois State women's soccer opens its road slate against Lindenwood on Thursday at 4 p.m. CT at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
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Thursday's match will be the Redbirds' third meeting all-time against the Lions.
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Illinois State holds a 1-1 record against Lindenwood, with both of those games held in Normal.
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The Redbirds won the first-ever meeting between the two programs 5-1 on Sep. 8, 2022.
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The Lions won the last meeting 2-1 on Aug. 14, 2025.
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Lindenwood holds a 1-1 record on the season, defeating Bellarmine 1-0 on Aug. 13 before falling to Saint Louis 5-0 on Aug. 16.
RALLYING FROM BEHIND
Illinois State fell behind early in the season opener, as Northern Illinois scored in the 18th minute and carried that 1-0 advantage into halftime. The Redbirds, however, regrouped and answered in the second half. Sophomore forward Rylann Law scored
the equalizer in the 63rd minute off an assist from senior transfer Mikayla Carkhuff. Just four minutes later, junior forward Eve Gricius delivered the go-ahead goal, heading a pass from sophomore Grace Petrie to put Illinois State ahead 2-1.
APPLYING PRESSURE
The Redbirds dominated possession and pressed hard in the attacking third against Northern Illinois, tallying 10 corner kicks and allowing the Huskies to get just seven shots off. Ten corner kicks are the most in a game for the Redbirds since Sep. 8, 2024, against Western Illinois.
BIRDS WITH EXPERIENCE
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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.
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Four players tallied at least 1900 minutes played last season, which is the most players in a season with at least 1900 minutes played since 2016.
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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.
THE NEWEST REDBIRDS
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In the offseason, third year head coach Raleigh DeRose made six additions to the Redbird roster, including two freshman and four transfers.
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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.
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Both freshmen -- Bailey Leach and Brooklyn Ludwig -- hail from Illinois.
