Redbirds to Host Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday

Illinois State soccer returns to Adelaide Street Field on Sunday, hosting Purdue Fort Wayne at 1 p.m. CT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+. Admission is free for all fans.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

• Sunday's match will be the Redbirds' sixth all-time meeting with the Mastodons.

• Illinois State holds a 4-0-1 advantage in the series and has won all three contests played at Adelaide Street Field.

• The most recent meeting between the two squads ended in a scoreless tie on Aug. 18, 2024.

• Illinois State holds a 14-2 goal advantage in the series, scoring four goals twice against Purdue Fort Wayne.

• The Mastodons have a 0-4-1 record this season, including a scoreless draw with Southern Indiana.

• Purdue Fort Wayne head coach Jason Burr previously served as an assistant coach at Illinois State in 2006.

QUICK KICKS

• The Redbirds are coming off a 1-1 draw with Saint Louis, who received a vote in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll this past week.

• The Redbirds remain unbeaten at home this season with a 1-0-2 record.

• The draw with the Northwestern 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 started the 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.

CARKHUFF FINDS THE NET

North Dakota State transfer Mikayla Carkhuff scored her second career goal and first as a Redbird on Thursday when she handled a pass from Rylann Law and fired a shot into the top left corner of the net.

Carkhuff, a senior defender, scored her first career goal on Aug. 21, 2025, against Idaho State

SISTER, SISTER

According to an SID survey conducted by Duke, 58 NCAA women's soccer programs reported having at least one set of sisters, either as players or as a player and coach. Of those 58 programs, 32 feature a set of twins, including Illinois State sophomores Rowann and Rylann Law.

FIRST TIME SINCE 2021

Thursday's contest against Saint Louis marked the first time Illinois State did not record a corner kick in a match since falling to Northwestern 2-1 in overtime on Sep. 9, 2021.

TEJADA JERSEY RETIREMENT

Illinois State soccer legend Rachel Tejada will have her No. 14 jersey retired on Oct. 4 when the Redbirds host UNI, alongside ISU's annual Julie Heidecke/Alumni celebration.

• Tejada's No. 14 will be the second number in Illinois State soccer history to be retired, alongside the twelfth Redbird on the field, Heidecke's No. 13.

• The four-year letterwinner for the Redbirds is the only player in Missouri Valley Conference history to be named Conference Player of the Year four times.

• In her Redbird career, Tejada helped Illinois State earn three MVC regular-season championships and secure four straight MVC tournament titles.

• Tejada still holds the Redbird and MVC career records for goals (74), assists (42) and points (190). 

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