Allison Thornley Senior Associate Athletic Director/Internal Operations | Illinois State University Athletics Website
Allison Thornley Senior Associate Athletic Director/Internal Operations | Illinois State University Athletics Website
Illinois State University's soccer team, with a record of 2-7-2 and 0-2-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), is preparing for two matches this week. The team will face Valparaiso on Thursday at home, followed by a Sunday game against Murray State on the road. Both games are scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN+, with kickoffs at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
The Redbirds have a historical advantage over Valparaiso, leading their all-time series 7-3-0 since it began in 1997. The most recent encounters between the two teams ended in ties: a 1-1 draw last season and a scoreless match in 2022. Since Valparaiso joined the MVC in 2017, the series stands even at 2-2-2.
Against Murray State, Illinois State is seeking its first victory. Murray State joined the MVC in 2022, resulting in their initial meeting that year where they defeated Illinois State twice: once with a score of 7-3 in Murray and again with a score of 2-0 last season.
In terms of team dynamics, freshman Maggie Dowling recently became the sixth true freshman to start for Illinois State this season during their match against Drake. This marks a significant milestone as it is the first time since at least 2014 that six different true freshmen have started for Illinois State within one season.
On August 25th, five true freshmen—Eiley Henderson, Chloe Cline, Isabelle Cameron, Kennedy Herman, and Eve Gricius—started together for only the second time since such an event occurred previously during a goalless draw against No.19 Marquette in 2017.
Defensively, Illinois State achieved its third shutout of the season while playing Southern Illinois away from home. All shutouts were secured with Madi Valenti as goalkeeper and equaled Priya Gillan's record from 2021 for most shutouts by an individual Redbird since then. It is also noteworthy that these three shutouts mark their first instance of achieving multiple road clean sheets since their performance back in 2019.
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