McLean County Times

Illinois State, the No. 7 seed, is set to face off against No. 3 seed UIC in the upcoming MVC Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday. The match will take place at Flames Field in Chicago with a scheduled kickoff at 4 p.m.

In the first round of the tournament, Illinois State secured a victory over UNI with a score of 1-0. This marked their second encounter within four days, following a 1-1 draw at Adelaide Street Field to conclude the regular season.

The decisive goal for Illinois State came from Erika Wells in the 60th minute, marking her first career goal. Goalkeeper Madi Valenti contributed by making five saves, achieving her fifth shutout of the season. This was also Illinois State's first shutout at the MVC Tournament since defeating Missouri State 1-0 in 2018.

Notably, Illinois State became the first seven-seed to win a game at this year's MVC Tournament, as previous seven seeds were winless in three attempts. Additionally, this victory was significant for the program as it was their first win as a lower seed at the MVC Tournament; they had been winless in ten prior attempts.

Historically, Illinois State has claimed seven MVC Tournament titles, tying them with Evansville for the most in Valley history. Their latest victory brought their total all-time tournament wins to twenty, placing them second in conference history alongside Creighton and just behind Evansville's twenty-one wins.

Wells' goal on Thursday made her the eighth Redbird player this year to score their first career goal. A Redbird achieved this milestone across four consecutive games from October 3rd to October 17th: Chloe Cline and Sammi Cenek (both on August 15), Eiley Henderson and Eve Gricius (October 3), Aniya Seymore (October 6), Abby Hall (October 13), and Kennedy Herman (October 17).

For more information about tickets and other related activities, visit GoRedbirds.com or use the Illinois State Redbirds App.