The University of Illinois Springfield women's soccer opens up its 2021 season with a pair of games this week. The Prairie Stars will host Lindenwood on Friday at 5 p.m., followed by a Sunday noon game at Missouri-St. Louis.
 
UIS was one of the most improved teams in the GLVC in 2019 with five more victories than the previous year. The Prairie Stars set a program record with seven conference wins. UIS returns six starters from that squad, and GLVC coaches picked UIS ninth in the preseason poll.
 
Among the returners for UIS are Kayla Meyer, Claire Sokol, and Meghan Vlcek, all players who started every 18 games last season.

Each individual GLVC school will determine their own attendance policy for women's soccer. Please check the policies of the home teams if interested in attending a contest.
 
UIS vs. Lindenwood
Date/Time/Location: Friday, February 26, 5:00 p.m. – Springfield, Ill.
Streaming: https://glvcsn.com/uis   
Live Stats: https://uisprairiestars.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
All-Time Series: UIS leads 2-1-2 (Series tied 1-1-1 in Springfield, Ill.)
 
Lindenwood is coming off a 7-9-1 overall season in 2019, and it finished 11^th in the GLVC with a 6-8-1 mark. The Lions ranked sixth in the league with a 0.93 GAA, but they only scored 0.82 goals a game.
 
Lindenwood was picked eighth in the GLVC preseason poll, just ahead of UIS. The team is led by Megan Swanson, who started 16 of 17 games in 2019, and Mia Corrigan, who is the team's top returning offensive players with six points last year.
 
Last season, the Prairie Stars and Lions played a scoreless game in regulation, before UIS scored less than three minutes into overtime.

UIS vs. Missouri-St. Louis
Date/Time/Location: Sunday, February 28, 12:00 p.m. – St. Louis, Mo.
Streaming: unavailable on Sunday
Live Stats: https://umsltritons.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
Streaming and live stats may not be available due to the weather
All-Time Series: UMSL leads 5-4-2 (Series tied 3-3-0 in St. Louis, Mo.)
 
Missouri-St. Louis is coming off a 5-11-1 overall season in 2019, and it finished 12^th in the GLVC with a 5-9-1 mark. The Tritons averaged 0.82 goals a game last season, and they allowed 1.47 goals a game.
 
Missouri-St. Louis was picked 12th in the GLVC preseason poll. The team is under the direction of Maddi Moon, who is starting her first year at the school.
 
Last season in St. Louis, the two teams were tied 1-1 until the 83^rd minute when the Prairie Stars scored the game-winner. The win was the third straight for UIS over Missouri-St. Louis.
 
Up Next
UIS will be home twice the following weekend. The Prairie Stars will face McKendree on Friday, March 5. Two days later, UIS will be back at Kiwanis Stadium to take on Southern Indiana