Illinois State soccer coach Tim Carter is looking for a little sympathy from NIU when he brings his team to DeKalb this Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match.

The Redbirds, NCAA Tournament participants last year, lost five starters from their 14-4-1 team. “They took with them 13 years of experience,” Carter said. “You can replace them physically with another player, but you can’t replace the experience.”

ISU has gotten off to a rough 1-4 start this season.

But NIU, 0-1-1, is still seething over its 4-1 loss to the Redbirds last year.

“Yeah, I remember,” said John Lechner, NIU senior midfielder. “They had five shots on goal and scored on four. I think we should get a little pay back.”

“Northern had great deal of the ball possession,” Carter recalled, “but we were able to get behind them and score some goals. It was kind of a funny thing.”

NIU was not laughing. The loss last year probably knocked NIU out of contention for an NCAA Tournament spot—and put ISU in.

“It’s a suitable motivation for them,” Carter said. “They have a lot of unsung players. If they play together, they can play with anybody in the nation.”

In the Redbird’s case—”Right now we have more weaknesses than strengths,” Carter said. “We lack a lot of experience in defense, goal, midfield, up front … We’re still trying to find ourselves.”

The Huskies are not buying Carter’s song and dance.

“I know they lost 2-1 to the No. 2 team in the nation (North Carolina State),” Lechner said. “They’ve had some good results in their losses.”