The Lady Hawks welcomed ten
incoming Freshmen to the roster for the 2008 season with Coach Peacock
recruiting far and wide to help the team push for honors.
The season didn't start as
planned with a tie and two losses in their first three games although the Hawks
did face the 2007 NAIA national champions Martin Methodist University and came
out with their heads held high.
The teams' first win of the
season came against NCAA DII outfit Lambuth University when the Hawks came out
with a credible 1-0 victory. Next up were
the University Rio Grande, the former school of Head Coach Peacock, and the
team collected a convincing 3-0 victory on the road.
The Hawks went to play two
more road games against Taylor University and Grace College, in which the Hawks
narrowly lost, before returning home to Stuart Field. The reaction was exactly what Coach Peacock
was looking for as the team played exceptionally well and scored seven unanswered
goals against Northland Baptist. Next up
for the Lady Hawks came the Nationally Ranked Trinity Christian College, who
played excellent on the night and came away convincing winners. The Hawks responded well once again and beat
St. Francis University the following week by a score of 8-0. The final game in September saw IIT entertain
the Eagles of Robert Morris College. The game was a physical affair with the Hawks
being defeated 1-0. The opening game of
October saw St. Xavier travel the short distance to Stuart field to take on the
Hawks. The score ended with a 3-0
victory for the traveling Cougars. However, the Hawks played well and the score
line didn't really reflect the true story of the game. Looking to return to winning ways, the Hawks
made the trip to Bourbonnais to face the talented Olivet Nazarene
University. The Hawks were impressive
throughout and came away with a deserved 2-1 victory. This was the Hawks first ever victory over the
Tigers. A break from conference action was next as the team faced another NCAA
DII opponent Urbana University, and for the second time during the season, the
Hawks came out victorious. A home defeat
to the CCAC powerhouse Trinity International University followed. The Lady
Hawks then faced three consecutive conference road games and looked to propel
themselves into post-season play. The
Lady Hawks stepped up their game at the business end of the season when it
mattered. They recorded three
consecutive away victories starting at Judson University. Again the Hawks made
history beating Judson for the first time in a 1-0 over time thriller. Convincing wins over Cardinal Stritch, and
Calumet followed. With these three victories the Hawks finished tied for 4th
place and qualified to play St. Xavier University in the CCAC conference
play-off quarterfinal.
The team traveled to the
south side of Chicago to face SXU on their artificial home field in what was to
be a tense and physical match up. The
Hawks played their hearts out and for large periods of the game were the better
team. In the end it was not to be for
the Lady Hawks as they fell 2-1.
The team finished with a much
improved CCAC conference record 5-4 (9-9-1 Overall) and was represented in the
all conference team by standout defender Emily Kunkel. Overall the team continues to improve year
after year.
