Indiana State returns home inside Missouri Valley Conference play when they host Illinois State on Wednesday, October 16. Kick-off is set for 7:00 pm (ET) from Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+. Live stats will be available on GoSycamores.com.

Head coach Julie Hanley, in her fourth season at the helm, led ISU to their first conference tournament appearance since 2013 after a fourth place finish in the 2016 campaign. She then led the Sycamores to a nail biting penalty kick win over the Drake Bulldogs in the MVC Tournament to secure a spot in the semifinals. In 2018, she led the Sycamores to four road wins for the first time since 2013 as well as a four match undefeated streak in road games for the first time in the history of the program.

The Sycamores' 1-0-1 start in league play this season was the best for the program since a 2-0-0 start in 2006. The Sycamores have never gone through the first four matches of a league season with one or few defeats.
 
All four of the Sycamores' all-time wins over Illinois State have come by exactly one goal.
  The Valley on ESPN, part of the Missouri Valley Conference's media rights agreement with ESPN, will feature most home soccer matches from all eight MVC institutions on the ESPN+ and the ESPN3 streaming platforms. The HD-quality telecasts are available on the ESPN app. Seven Sycamore games will be featured on ESPN+ while four will be shown live world wide on ESPN3.
 
Danielle Varner Named To Preseason All-MVC Team
Indiana State junior Danielle Varner was named to the Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference Team as part of a summer time vote of the league's head coaches. Varner was named in 2018 to the All-MVC Second Team as well as an honorable mention Valley Scholar-Athlete. She played and started in all 18 matches for the Sycamores and scored a pair of goals while adding an assist for a total of five points on the season. Varner fired off 15 shots, including five shots on goal. She scored her first goal at Akron as she had three shots in the contest. Varner then added another goal as part of the eight goal outburst against Chicago State. She tallied an assist in conference play at Missouri State. Varner was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week after the Sycamores completed a busy three-game road swing around the Labor Day weekend undefeated. It was her first career MVC Weekly honor.
 
Sycamores Picks First League Victory Since 2017
Indiana State's 3-2 victory over Valparaiso on Saturday, October 5 broke a 721 day drought for the program in the Missouri Valley Conference win column. Prior to Saturday's victory the last MVC win for the program came on October 14, 2017 against Illinois State. It was an 11-match streak that saw the Sycamores drop nine of those matches and finish with a pair of draws. Overall, ISU is 1-0-1 to start the MVC campaign – the best for the program since a 2-0-0 start to begin the 2006 conference season with a pair of victories over Northern Iowa and Missouri State. Indiana State has never gone through the first three matches of a conference campaign without a loss.
 
Young Strikers Making Their Mark Early
The Sycamores have recorded 163 shots this season, including 70 of which have come on goal. Of those 147, 129  have been by players that are either in their first or second season with the program. Of the 77 on goal, 63 have come by that same group. So 87.8 percent of the team's shots have been by underclassmen while 81.8 percent of the shots on goal have come from that same group.
 
Celeste Wahlberg Leads The MVC In Shots Taken & Shots On Goal
Indiana State freshman Celeste Wahlberg is leading the league in average shots per game with a mark of 4.36 as she owns 48 shots in 11 matches played. Sophomore Jensen Margheim is sixth in the league in the same category with 24 shots taken over six matches for an average of 2.18 per outing. Wahlberg's 23 shots on goal works out to a league-best 2.09 per match.
 
Sidney Ewing Posts 5th Quickest Goal In Program History At Central Michigan
Sidney Ewing (off the assist from Danielle Varner) lit the scoreboard in just 2:28 of game time on Friday night at Central Michigan. It was the fifth fastest goal scored in the 19-year history of the ISU women's soccer program and the fastest since Caitlyn Eddy found the back of the net at SIU Edwardsville in just 2:24 last season. Ewing also scored quickly against Chicago State on September 16, 2018 when she stole the ball and scored from 25 yards out just 2:40 into the match. That goal proved to be the sixth-fastest goal scored in ISU history. Ewing now owns both the 5th and 6th fastest scored goals in program history. In the last two seasons, the Sycamores have scored three of the six fastest goals in the history of the program.
 
Sycamores Pick Up First Ever Win Over Atlantic 10
Indiana State's 1-0 victory over Dayton was the first for the program against the current membership of the Atlantic 10. ISU fell earlier to Saint Louis by the score of 2-1 on August 25 of this season and the only other previous meeting was in 2008 against Rhode Island.
 
Up Next
The Sycamores return to Iowa for the second consecutive weekend when they travel to Drake on Sunday, October 20 at 2 pm (ET). The game will air live on ESPN3.