The Illinois Central College women's soccer team will open the Central District Tournament on Friday against a familiar foe as they take on Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) at Council Bluffs, Iowa at 6:30 pm.  The Cougars and Blue Storm have clashed two times in the last month and a half with SWIC taking both regular season matches.

But ICC hopes the third time will be the charm.

"It's never easy playing someone a third time much less someone who has beaten us twice," head coach Javi Valle said.  "But we feel confident that we'll be able to flip things around on Friday."

SWIC got a 2-0 win back in early September in East Peoria when the Cougars were at less than full strength.  They then took the rematch by a score of 4-2 in Belleville on October 16.  In that game, the teams were tied 1-all at the half before the Blue Storm scored three goals late in the contest for the victory.

Starting strong and staying on the attack will be the key in the Friday's district opener. 

"We need to be more clinical with our chances." Valle continued. "We've dominated possession and created scoring chances, but we haven't been too good at finishing them. The first two games against them were very similar as we controlled most of the game and created scoring opportunities, but didn't put them away. The few opportunities SWIC had, they punished us. Therefore, if we want to move on to the next round we'll have to do better at putting away our chances."

After battling injuries from the onset of the season, the Cougars turned a corner in late September with a five-game winning streak and then played Lewis & Clark to a tie recently. 

Vivienne Hardiman leads ICC on the season with seven goals while Isabella Guerra has added five scores. 

"We've had a few players really step up for us. We have Kirsten (Bruhns) who has led this team exceptionally. She's been amazing for us in the back and we're simply lucky to have her.  Others like Vivienne, Rylee (May), and Alex (Husson) have also done great for us. As freshmen, they've all played well for us and we'll need big games from them if we expect to move on."

The District Tourney will begin at 4pm game with Indian Hills playing Crowder and then the Cougars and SWIC will play at 6:30 pm.  If the Cougars win on Friday, they would play on Sunday, October 27 at 3:30 pm against host Iowa Western.  A full tourney schedule and livestream link appear below.

"We've been working hard this week and the girls are ready and excited for the challenge," Valle said.

Livestream link:  https://www.goreivers.com/information/reiver-sports-network

Women's Soccer Central District Tournament 
First Round - Friday, October 25, 2024 - @ Region 11A - Council Bluffs, Iowa
Game 1 - 4:00 PM - Indian Hills vs. Crowder CC
Game 2 - 6:30 PM - Southwestern Illinois CC vs. Illinois Central
 
Second Round - Sunday, October 27, 2024 - @ Region 11A - Council Bluffs, Iowa
Game 4 - 1:00 PM - Lewis & Clark vs. Winner of Game 1
Game 3 - 3:30 PM - Iowa Western vs. Winner of Game 2 

Third Round - Saturday, November 2, 2024 - Council Bluffs* (*If IW advances Kick-off @ 5:00 PM. If IW is eliminated in Second Round, Third Round will be hosted at another site.)
Game 5 - 5:00 PM (If IW Advances) - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
*If Region 11 or Region 24 has both finalists on Day 3 of the 11/1624 Tournament, that Region's higher seed will host the championship on Day 3, regardless of where Day 1 & 2 were held.

Championship - Saturday, November 9, 2024 @ Region 7 Champion
Game 6 - TBD - Region 7 Champ vs. Region 11/16/24 Champ