Illinois State soccer continues its road trip with a matchup against Loyola Chicago on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT at Loyola Soccer Park. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• Sunday's match will be the Redbirds' 26th all-time meeting against the Ramblers.
• Illinois State holds a 14-11 advantage in the series, but Loyola has won seven straight against ISU dating back to Nov. 2, 2018.
• The Redbirds' last victory against the Ramblers came in a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory on the road on Oct. 13, 2018.
• Loyola has a 1-2 record this season with a 1-0 win over Central Michigan and losses against Iowa and No. 5 Michigan State.
• 41.3% of the Redbirds' 46 shot attempts this season have been on goal, compared to 56% of Loyola's 16 total shot attempts.
• The Redbirds have 26 corner kicks on the season to the Rambler's six.
QUICK KICKS
• The Redbirds are coming off a 1-1 draw with Northwestern of the Big Ten.
• The draw with the Wildcats marks the Redbirds' first tie or win against a Power Four opponent since a 1-0 shutout over Pittsburgh
on Sep. 3, 2017.
• The Redbirds have started a season unbeaten through four games for the first time since 2012.
• With Madi Valenti's four saves in goal against UT Martin, she moved into fifth place in program history with 176 career saves.
• Rylann Law is the first Redbird to score in consecutive games to start the season since Riley O'Brien scored in the first three games in 2021.
• 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.
• Grace Petrie, an All-Freshman team selection in 2025, and Valenti, the reigning MVC Goalkeeper of the Year, both earned preseason All-MVC honors.
POINT AGAINST A POWER OPPONENT
Illinois State's 1-1 draw with Northwestern marks the Redbirds' first tie or win against a Power Four opponent since a 1-0 shutout over Pittsburgh on Sep. 3, 2017. It is the first tie or win against a Big Ten foe since the Redbirds shutout Illinois 1-0 on Aug. 27, 2017.
UNBEATEN THROUGH FOUR
With Illinois State's 1-1 draw with Northwestern on Thursday, the Redbirds improved to 2-0-2, starting a season unbeaten through four games for the first time since 2012.
ROWANN'S FIRST AS A REDBIRD
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the 39th minute on Thursday, but Illinois State continued to battle and found its equalizer in the 73rd minute. Ava Watson sent a ball in from near the sideline to Eve Gricius, who played it to sophomore transfer Rowann Law. Law finished with her left foot into the bottom center of the net to tie the game and record her first goal as a Redbird.
• She now has two goals in her career, scoring one last season as a freshman for Missouri State, which also came against a Big Ten opponent in Nebraska.
CLINE REUNION
When the Redbirds meet Loyola Chicago on Sunday, they will see a familiar face on the Ramblers in Chloe Cline. Cline started 41 games for the Redbirds and scored six goals across her freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to Loyola.
