McLean County Times

Illinois State University's soccer team will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to face the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Panthers in a Missouri Valley Conference matchup on Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

This upcoming match will be the 29th meeting between Illinois State and UNI. The Redbirds currently lead the all-time series with an 18-9-1 record. When playing in Cedar Falls, both teams have four wins each and no draws.

The Redbirds are coming off their eighth shutout of the season after a scoreless draw against Evansville at Adelaide Street Field last Sunday. This number of shutouts is the highest for Illinois State under head coach Raleigh DeRose and ranks among the top ten in the country this season.

The result against Evansville extended Illinois State's unbeaten streak to six games, marking its best run since 2019. In conference play, Illinois State has remained unbeaten through its first four games, which matches its best start in the Missouri Valley Conference since 2019.

Freshman Grace Petrie was recognized by the MVC league office as Freshman of the Week for her performance against Evansville. Petrie is the fifth different Illinois State player to earn a weekly conference honor this season, and her selection marks six consecutive weeks that a Redbird has been chosen for an MVC weekly award. Petrie played all 90 minutes in Sunday's game and was instrumental in maintaining the team's shutout. She leads all freshmen with 1,191 minutes played this season.

UNI comes into Saturday's contest after earning its first conference win with a 2-1 victory over Valparaiso on October 4. Sophomore Haylee Braun scored both goals in that match and received MVC Player of the Week honors alongside Petrie. UNI is led by interim head coach Alex Place Thomas, who took over in June.

Further information about tickets and updates can be found on GoRedbirds.com or through the Illinois State Redbirds App.