Chicago State Women's Soccer Opens Kevin Meek Era This Weekend at Kroc Stadium

Cougars to battle first-time opponents Idaho State and Northern Iowa to kick off 2017 season.

Sophomore Mariela Alba and the CSU women's soccer team open the season Friday afternoon against Idaho State at Kroc Stadium.

Idaho State (0-0-0) at Chicago State (0-0-0)/ Northern Iowa (0-0-0) at Chicago State
Date	Friday, Aug. 18, 2017/Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017
Time	1 p.m. (both games)
Location	Kroc Stadium - Chicago, Ill. (both games)
Video	N/A
Radio	N/A
Live Stats	N/A
Social Media	@ChiStateCougars

CHICAGO -

This Week: Chicago State University women's soccer team begins the Kevin Meek era this weekend at Ray and Joan Kroc Stadium with a pair of home games. The Cougars take on Idaho State in the season opener for both teams on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. then battle Northern Iowa two days later with a start time of 1 p.m.

New Beginnings – The Green and White head into their first season under new head coach Meek, who came to CSU from NCAA Division II Assumption College. Joining Meek will be assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Cristiano Costa, graduate assistant coach Salvador Uriostegui and six freshmen who will look to helping the Cougars contend in the Western Athletic Conference this fall.

Scouting the Cougars: CSU enters into its fourth year as a program and its first season under Meek, who arrived on campus in January. The Green and White have 12 returners back on this year's team from last season with seven of those returners being starters in addition to bringing in six freshmen newcomers to the squad. Among the returners are sophomore midfielders Mariela Alba (Hanover Park, Ill./Bartlett) and Taylor Rankin (Dearborn, Mich./Edsel Ford) as both players are the top returning scorers for the Cougars. Alba produced seven points a year ago via three goals and an assists, while Rankin posted two goals and an assist for five points. Junior goalkeeper Audra Wisehart (Sandusky, Ohio/Huron) returns for her third season after leading the WAC in saves (103) and saves per game (6.44) last year.

Scouting the Bengals: Picked to finish eighth in the Big Sky's preseason poll last week, Idaho State returns 18 letterwinners and eight starters from its 2016 which finished as one of the NCAA's most improved teams with a 7-13 record. Sophomore forward Michaela Didericksen produced seven goals and an assist for 15 points during her freshman campaign with the Bengals, while junior midfielder/defender Meghan Bare tallied six points on two goals and two assists a year ago. Senior Shawna Hennnings recorded 82 saves and a 1.88 goals against average with three shutout victories in goal last season.

ISU History: Friday's game will be first-ever meeting between Chicago State and Idaho State on the soccer field.

Scouting the Panthers: Northern Iowa, returning nine starters from last year's team that posted an 8-8-2 record, opens their season at Kroc Stadium on Sunday after going 1-0-1 in its exhibition slate with a 1-0 win at Western Illinois and a 2-2 tie at Minnesota State-Mankato. Senior forward Sarah Brandt is the leading returning scorer for UNI as she recorded six goals a year ago.

UNI History: This will be the first-ever matchup between Chicago State and Northern Iowa.

Up Next: The Cougars open a nine-game road swing on Aug. 25 with a city battle at Saint Xavier which kicks off at 5 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#11 Mariela Alba: MF; 5' 2"; Sophomore

#13 Taylor Rankin: MF; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#0 Audra Wisehart: GK; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#11 Mariela Alba
: 5' 2"; Sophomore
: MF

#13 Taylor Rankin
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: MF

#0 Audra Wisehart
: 5' 9"; Junior
: GK

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#11 Mariela Alba

#13 Taylor Rankin

#0 Audra Wisehart

Players Mentioned

#11 Mariela Alba

#13 Taylor Rankin

#0 Audra Wisehart