Indiana State hits the road for its penultimate Missouri Valley Conference contest at Loyola on Saturday, October 26. Kick-off is set for 8:00 pm (ET) from Chicago, Ill. Live stats will be available on GoSycamores.com. The game will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN+.
 
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.
  Loyola Chicago leads the all-time series against Indiana State by a 7-3-0 margin.
 
Indiana State is 1-4 all-time against the Ramblers on the road.
 
Loyola has won the last two meetings against the Sycamores, dating back to a 1-0 Sycamore victory in Terre Haute back on October 23, 20-16.
 
ISU's last win in Chicago came on October 24, 2015 -- a 2-0 Sycamore victory.
  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.
 
Young Strikers Making Their Mark Early
The Sycamores have recorded 183 shots this season, including 87 of which have come on goal. Of those 183, 146 have been by players that are either in their first or second season with the program. Of the 87 on goal, 72 have come by that same group. So 79.8 percent of the team's shots have been by underclassmen while 82.8 percent of the shots on goal have come from that same group.
 
Celeste Wahlberg Leads The MVC In Shots Taken & Second In Shots On Goal
Indiana State freshman Celeste Wahlberg is leading the league in average shots per game with a mark of 3.92 as she owns 55 shots in 14 matches played. Sophomore Jensen Margheim is seventh in the league in the same category with 27 shots taken over 14 matches for an average of 1.93 per outing. Wahlberg's 27 shots on goal works out to a MVC best 1.93 per match.
 
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.
 
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
Indiana State concludes the regular season on Halloween night, Thursday October 31 when they host Missouri State at 5 pm (ET) inside the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium.