MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois traveled to Itta Bena, Miss. and battled extreme temperatures and a scrappy Mississippi Valley State team to earn a 3-0 win this past Sunday. Goals from Jordan Spaciel, Amy Bennett and Laura Lins propelled Western to its first win of 2011.

An exciting game with the Iowa Hawkeyes under the lights present the Leathernecks with an early benchmark. The Leathernecks will return to Macomb for its home debut against St. Ambrose at 1 p.m.

The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois at Iowa
When • Friday, Aug. 26 (7 p.m. CST)
Location • Iowa City, Iowa • Iowa Soccer Complex (3,000)

Coverage
Live Stats • HawkeyesSports.com

The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois at St. Ambrose
When • Sunday, Aug. 28 (1 p.m. CST)
Location • Macomb • John MacKenzie Alumni Field (1,000)
Coverage
Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com

SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES: The Big Ten member went 8-9-3 and 1-7-2 in the conference... head coach Ron Rainey has a career mark of 130-115-31 in his 14 seasons as a head coach... this will be his sixth season at Iowa and has compiled a record of 40-50-10 with the Hawkeyes... the program is off to strong start with an exhibition win over Drake, 6-0... Iowa will enter with a 2-0 record after wins over DePaul and Southeast Missouri State... the Hawkeyes return 17 letter winners and incorporate 10 newcomers to help replace six lost letter winners... Iowa leads the all-time series 2-0 with the last meeting coming in 2009 in Iowa City where the Hawkeyes took the match, 1-0...

HAWKEYES TO WATCH: Freshman Cloe Lacasse and sophomore Katie Nasenbenny both have two goals... senior goalkeeper Emily Morgan has only allowed one goal and has recorded eight saves.

SCOUTING THE QUEEN BEES: St. Ambrose will open its 2011 season with Sunday's game against Western Illinois... the Queen Bees went 15-5-1 in 2010 and made a appearance in the Midwest Conference Championship... head coach Jon Mannall is in his ninth season and has a career record of 90-66-10... SAU returns nine starters from 2010... Western leads the all-time series 6-0... the last meeting coming last season in Davenport, Iowa where the Leathernecks were victorious, 4-1.

QUEEN BEES TO WATCH: Junior Ashley Dexter is coming off a monster season where she collected 18 goals and 16 assists... Senior Nikki Boland contributed nine goals... SAU  will need to replace some experience between the pipes... junior Kerry Hardiman made nine saves in limited action.

MCSRA: The Fighting Leathernecks visited Digger's Bowling Alley on Tuesday evening where some of Macomb's Special Olympians were practicing their skills... the McDounough County Special Recreation Association are the guests of Western Illinois Athletics on Sunday when the Leathernecks make its home debut.

PRESEASON POLL: The Leathernecks were picked to finish fourth in The Summit League... Head Coach Tony Guinn's squad received 48 points and a first-place vote... Western has become accustomed to exceeding expectations as it was slotted in the fifth-place slot prior to the 2010 season.

TURNOVER: The roster has nine starters returning and 19 letter winners back for 2011... the roster will be infused with 12 newcomers who look to ease the loss of two starters and seven letter winners.

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: Western returns two members of 2010's Summit League All-Freshman team... Kristin Becker and Jordan Spaciel both collected the honor after strong debuts for the Purple & Gold... Spaciel collected four goals and one assist in 20 games and 10 starts and notched the game-winning goal against Green Bay... Becker played a large role in a strong defense and will be asked to do the same in 2011.

BIG SHOES: The Purple & Gold will have to replace some of the most decorated athletes in program history... Departed senior defender Jenny Green has a laundry list of awards and recognition including 2010 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and 2010 First Team All-Summit League... other notable names that will need to be replaced are 2010 seniors Caitlin Barrett, Kelly Diershow, Ali Smyth, Jill Kevorkian and Kendra Wilkening.

TRENDING UPWARD: 2010 saw the Leathernecks put up some impressive numbers as a team... the 10 wins is the third most in program history... the squad also collected nine shutouts, the most in program history... the 76 points last season is fifth all-time... the Purple & Gold put 151 shots on goal, which is second all-time while taking 291 total shots, also second all-time.

LATE ROSTER ADDITION: Leatherneck women's tennis standout Amy Unzicker has joined the roster and will offer some goal scoring opportunities... the senior has already earned positive reviews from the staff.

DEFENDING HOME TURF: Western Illinois has not lost at home since Oct. 30, 2009 (7-0-3).

CLUTCH: The Purple & Gold won four of the last five regular season games to qualify for the Summit League Tournament... the program has reached the tournament three out of the last four seasons.

IN GOAL: Western's goalkeeping situation has changed but still had potential to be one of the best groups in the league... freshmen Liz Schulze and Victoria Kappel will battle for playing time as incumbent starter Laure Atkinson is taking her redshirt season... Kappel earned a shutout in his first career start at MVSU.

HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN: The strong recruiting class will offer exceptional depth and talent across the board... included in that class is NSCAA All-America, Sarah Hall... Hall was named All-State after she finished her prep career with 88 goals, 33 of which came as a senior... she also dished out 20 assists and was a Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year candidate.

COACHING STAFF: The Leathernecks' coaching staff will look to replace Assistant Coach Jason Cherry... Cherry was with the program since 2008 and offered his knowledge to squad and mainly worked with the goalkeepers... Cherry took an assistant position at East Carolina... Coach Guinn will be assisted by Mariana Sanchez and Keeley Murray.

2011 SENIORS: This season will  be the final one for four longtime Leathernecks... Laura Lins, Nora Potempa, Kristin Kuhar and Lauren DeWolf all have played their entire careers for the Purple & Gold... Amy Unzicker will also exhaust her athletic eligibility this season.