Katie Gaal
GoSycamores.Com
OMAHA, Neb. ? Just last night, the Indiana State Sycamores (5-14-0, 1-5 MVC) became the first No. 6 seed to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship after defeating the No. 2 seeded Illinois State Redbirds 1-0. It was the second upset in as many tries in their quest to do the improbable. Now they will face the Purple Aces of Evansville, the No. 1 seed and the MVC Co-Champions of the regular season.
The Purple Aces defeated Missouri State 3-1 in the first semifinal match last night. The Sycamores went to Evansville, Ind., earlier this season on October 1, and dropped a 4-0 match against the Aces. Overall, Evansville owns a 6-4-1 series advantage over Indiana State with four of those wins coming in the last four seasons. Prior to that, however, the Sycamores defeated the Aces in four straight seasons from 2002-05.
Evansville features Kayla Lambert, the all-time leading scorer in Missouri Valley Conference women's soccer history who was named the league's 2008 Player of the Year by a vote of league coaches. Lambert entered the State Farm MVC Tournament with 127 career points. She ranks second in the league this year with 31 points, which includes seven assists and 12 goals, three of which were game-winners.
Evansville's coaching staff, led by first-year head coach Krista McKendree, was voted the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year. It marks the third year the league has honored a staff (rather than singling out the head coach). McKendree, who is assisted by Matt Kagan and Corey Southers, also was part of the UE staff that won the award in 2006.
The Sycamores are currently led by senior Amanda Gogel who has nine points, three of which have come in the past two tournament games. Gogel has three goals and three assists on the season. For her career, the senior forward has tallied 11 goals and seven assists for 29 points.
The MVC Championship game on Sunday, November 9 will kick off at 3:30 pm E.S.T. Fans can follow the action at the 2008 State Farm MVC Women's Soccer Championship online with live stats and pay-per-view video streaming by going to www.mvc-sports.com.
The championship match will also be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest (most likely what you will have if you live in Terre Haute), Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, and Fox College Sports.
If you are a Time Warner Cable subscriber, the game will be on Fox Sports Midwest which is Channel 36. For DISH Network customers, Fox Sports Midwest is Channel 418. Finally, if you have DirectTV, Fox Sports Midwest is Channel 671.
Fans will be gathering at Buffalo Wild Wings in Terre Haute, Ind., located on HWY 41 to watch their Sycamores compete for their first-ever MVC Championship. Come join the fun and be there before kickoff at 3:30 pm E.S.T!
The winner of the championship earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Pairings for the NCAA Championship (64 teams) will be announced Monday, Nov. 10, at approximately 7 p.m. on ESPNEWS.
